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 Table of Contents  
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Year : 2017  |  Volume : 5  |  Issue : 3  |  Page : 75-76

Alarming rates of violence against women in Indonesia: United nations population fund


Department of Community Medicine, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Date of Web Publication9-Feb-2018

Correspondence Address:
Saurabh RamBihariLal Shrivastava
3rd Floor, Department of Community Medicine, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute, Ammapettai Village, Thiruporur - Guduvanchery Main Road, Sembakkam Post, Kancheepuram - 603 108, Tamil Nadu
India
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Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/ijhsdm.ijhsdm_15_17

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How to cite this article:
Shrivastava SR, Shrivastava PS, Ramasamy J. Alarming rates of violence against women in Indonesia: United nations population fund. Int J Health Syst Disaster Manage 2017;5:75-6

How to cite this URL:
Shrivastava SR, Shrivastava PS, Ramasamy J. Alarming rates of violence against women in Indonesia: United nations population fund. Int J Health Syst Disaster Manage [serial online] 2017 [cited 2024 Mar 28];5:75-6. Available from: https://www.ijhsdm.org/text.asp?2017/5/3/75/225101



Dear Sir,

Violence against women has been recognized as a global public health concern as it is associated with violation of fundamental rights and has serious negative effects on the physical and psychological well-being of the affected women.[1] More often than not, such episodes of violence leave a long-term scar in the lives of the victims, which makes it extremely difficult for them to regain their self-respect and identity.[1] Further, owing to the prevailing traditions, which suggest that women are inferior to men or that it is quite normal for a woman to be abused by a man in the society, the incidence of gender-based violence is extremely high.[1],[2]

Similar to the global trends, the violence against women in Indonesia is widespread.[2] The findings of a study done in the nation revealed that the lifetime risk for a woman to be exposed to physical and sexual violence was 11% and 22%, respectively.[3] In fact, attributes pertaining to a husband such as younger age, low education status, alcohol addiction, and witnessing his mother being hit by his father as a child, played a significant role in determining the incidence of gender-based violence.[3] In addition, it was reported that the chance of violence was higher among those women who were financially independent.[3]

Nevertheless, it has been identified that often such events of violence are underreported in the nation due to different reasons, and the precise picture is not clear.[2],[3] Thus, a nationwide survey has been carried out by the national ministry in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund in the year 2016, under which more than 8900 households were surveyed across more than 83 districts.[2] The desired information was obtained with the help of trained enumerators through face-to-face interviews and involved particulars about physical, sexual, emotional, and financial (like not permitting a woman to work or seize their money) forms of violence.[2]

The released survey findings indicated that in excess of 40% of the women of the nation have been exposed to at least one of the four types of violence in their lifetime, while 15% had such unpleasant experience in the previous 1 year.[2] In addition, it was observed that more than 41% of the women had restrictions on their freedom, with regard to meeting their friends or speaking with their family members or even availing health care.[2] Thus, there is a clear indication that there is an immense need to meet the requirement of survivors to eventually help them to rebuild their lives.[1],[2],[3],[4] The desired services comprise of protection, legal aid and counseling, medical help, and empowerment programs to assist the victims in developing their confidence and acquiring new skills for supporting themselves.[2],[3]

Even though some of the services come under the purview of the police or civil society groups, there is an indispensable need to strengthen and expand the reach of the services.[2] This can only happen once comprehensive policies are formulated to end the violence against women.[2] At the same time, there is an extensive need to target the perpetrators of violence by counseling them appropriately.[2],[3] In addition, the screening services for the identification of the victims of violence should be expanded to facilitate the early detection of such incidents.[4]

To conclude, violence against women happens around us and there is an immense need to obtain its precise estimate, to help policy-makers, to formulate evidence-based strategies, and to contain the problem at the earliest.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.



 
  References Top

1.
Shrivastava SR, Shrivastava PS, Ramasamy J. Extending humanitarian assistance to the survivors of gender-based violence in Ukraine. Prim Healthc 2016;6:e117.  Back to cited text no. 1
    
2.
United Nations Population Fund. New Survey Shows Violence Against Women Widespread in Indonesia; 2017. Available from: http://www.unfpa.org/news/new-survey-shows-violence-against-women-widespread-indonesia. [Last accessed on 2017 Aug 06].  Back to cited text no. 2
    
3.
Hayati EN, Högberg U, Hakimi M, Ellsberg MC, Emmelin M. Behind the silence of harmony: Risk factors for physical and sexual violence among women in rural Indonesia. BMC Womens Health 2011;11:52.  Back to cited text no. 3
    
4.
Iskandar L, Braun KL, Katz AR. Testing the woman abuse screening tool to identify intimate partner violence in Indonesia. J Interpers Violence 2015;30:1208-25.  Back to cited text no. 4
    




 

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