subscribe: Posts | Comments

Indonesian women protest official’s claim clothing provokes rape

0 comments

Summary of story from Yahoo News, September 19, 2011.

Scores of women have gathered in Jakarta to protest against a public official’s comments that provocatively dressed women are to blame for sexual assaults.

The protest came in response to remarks by the Indonesian capital’s governor Fauzi Bowo, who said that women should not wear revealing clothes to avoid being raped or victimized.

Like the women on the many SlutWalks that have taken place throughout the world this year (see WVoN coverage), the protesting women wore brightly coloured leggings and mini-skirts.

It was a defiant stand against the idea that women ‘deserve’ or attract rape if they dress a certain way.

Despite a prompt apology, Fauzi Bowo’s comments were publicized in a flurry of local media and Twitter.

The rally called on police and the Indonesian government to do more to protect women and help the victims of sexual assault.

Women carried placards saying “Don’t tell us how to dress, tell them not to rape,” and “My body is not porn, instead it’s your dirty mind.”

According to data from Indonesia’s National Commission for Women’s Affairs, there have been more than 100,000 cases of violence against women so far this year, of which almost 4 percent were rape cases.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *