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A6 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 13 april 2022
Indonesia passes sexual violence law amid growing cases

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) out with the aim of extort-
— Indonesia's Parliament ing, coercing, and deceiv-
approved a far-reaching ing victims. Perpetrators of
law on Tuesday that sets sexual exploitation face up
punishments for sexual vio- to 15 years in prison and
lence after being spurred a fine of 1 billion rupiah
into action by a recent ($69,600).
case in which an Islamic The law also mandates that
boarding school principal a trust fund and services to
raped and impregnated help victims recover be es-
several students. tablished and regulated by
The legislation had lan- the government.
guished for years amid The bill was initiated by the
arguments that it contra- National Commission on
venes religious and cultural Violence Against Women
values in the world's biggest in 2012. Calls for it to be
Muslim-majority nation. fast-tracked followed the
The law recognizes men shocking gang rape and
and children can be vic- murder of a 13-year-old
tims of sexual violence. In- schoolgirl by 14 drunken
donesia's Criminal Code, men in Bengkulu in 2016.
a legacy of the Dutch It soon stalled due to resis-
colonial era. recognizes Activists hold posters reading "stop sexual violence" and "free Indonesia from sexual violence", tance from PKS and Islamic
during a rally commemorating the International Women's Day in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday,
only rape and lewd crimes March 8, 2022. groups.
committed by men against Associated Press The latest draft won ma-
women and doesn't have jority support when provi-
provisions for restitution or the victims. from PKS. lence bill after it had lan- sions on rape and coerced
other remedies for victims Of the House of Represen- The law was passed a week guished in the legislature abortions were removed
and survivors. tative's nine political par- after an Indonesian high since 2016 as critics lam- from to avoid overlapping
Nine forms of sexual vio- ties, only the conservative court sentenced an Islamic basted lawmakers for hav- with proposals to amend
lence are recognized in Muslim-based Prosperous boarding school principal ing "no sense of crisis." the Criminal Code.
the law: physical and non- Justice Party, known as PKS, to death for raping at least "The protection of sexual Activists involved in pro-
physical sexual harass- rejected the bill because 13 students over five years violence victims should tecting victims of sexual vi-
ment, sexual torture, forced they wanted it to prohibit and impregnating some of be our common concern olence hailed the new law
contraception, forced ster- extramarital sex and homo- them. Several girls were 11 which should be urgently as a milestone.
ilization, forced marriage, sexual relations. and 14 years old and were addressed," Widodo said. "We highly appreciate the
sexual slavery, sexual ex- "Our rejection is part of our raped over several years, Under the new law, perpe- tireless efforts of the gov-
ploitation and cyber sexual struggle to fight for the pro- drawing a public outcry trators of electronic-based ernment and legislators in
harassment. hibition and punishment over why he wasn't caught sexual violence could face providing protection for
In addition to acknowledg- of perpetrators of adul- earlier. up to 4 years' imprisonment sexual violence victims by
ing sexual violence as pun- tery and sexual deviations President Joko Widodo in and a 200 million rupiah passing this long-awaited
ishable criminal acts, the which are ultimately not January appealed to the ($13,920) fine, and up to 6 law," said Siti Mazuma, di-
law has provisions for pro- included in the bill," said Al House to speed up delib- years and a 300 million rupi- rector of the women's legal
tection and recovery for Muzzamil Yusuf, a legislator eration on the sexual vio- ah ($20,880) if it was carried aid foundation LBH Apik.q

Death toll from Philippine landslides, floods rises to 43

others missing, officials said slides that hit six Baybay vil- ed central communities,
Tuesday.More than 100 vil- lages, military and local of- including some who were
lagers were injured in land- ficials said. trapped on their roofs. In
slides in the hard-hit city Seven other people central Cebu city, schools
of Baybay in central Leyte drowned in floodwaters and work were suspended
province over the week- in the central provinces of Monday and Mayor Mi-
end and early Monday, Samar and Negros Orien- chael Rama declared a
officials said. Army, police tal and southern Davao de state of calamity to allow
and other rescuers were Oro and Davao Oriental the rapid release of emer-
struggling with mud and provinces. gency funds.
unstable heaps of earth More rescuers and heavy At least 20 storms and ty-
and debris to find the miss- equipment, including phoons batter the Philip-
ing villagers. backhoes, arrived in the pines each year, mostly
"We are saddened by landslide-hit villages in Bay- during the rainy season
this dreadful incident that bay, but continuing rain that begins around June.
caused an unfortunate loss and muddy ground have Some storms have hit even
In this handout photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard,
residents are evacuated by rescuers in a flooded village in Pa- of lives and destruction of hampered the efforts. "The during the scorching sum-
nitan, Panay island, Philippines on Tuesday April 12, 2022. properties," said army bri- challenge is, it's continuing mer months in recent years.
Associated Press gade commander Col. to rain and we cannot im- The disaster-prone South-
Noel Vestuir, who was help- mediately clear the land- east Asian nation also lies
MANILA, Philippines (AP) pines after a summer tropi- ing oversee the search and slide areas," Vestuir said. on the Pacific "Ring of Fire,"
— The death toll from land- cal depression unleashed rescue. Coast guard, police and where many of the world's
slides and floods that hit the days of pounding rain has Thirty-six of the dead were firefighters rescued some volcanic eruptions and
central and southern Philip- risen to at least 43, with 28 recovered from the land- villagers Monday in flood- earthquakes occur.q