The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today concluded its consideration of the eighth periodic report of Indonesia, with its Experts commending the provision of universal health care coverage and noting remaining challenges to women’s rights in the country, including the reportedly high rates of female genital mutilation.
A Committee Expert commended Indonesia for the comprehensive health care coverage which had been instituted in the country. What was being done to protect women from maternal mortality? Another Expert asked about the current legal status of female genital mutilation in Indonesia, noting that according to the Committee’s information, it was one of the top three countries with the highest rates of female genital mutilation. Experts also asked about relatively low levels of female representation in politics, and whether special temporary measures could be envisaged to remedy the situation. The situation of indigenous women and girls, as well as women’s rights in the formal and informal labour force, were also topics of the dialogue.
The delegation of Indonesia noted that through a series of reviews involving stakeholders, including civil society, the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Human Rights had identified legislation that was considered intolerant and discriminatory, and which needed to be revised. As for the trend of an increase in gender-based violence online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it could not be separated from the rise in the use of social media platforms.
I Gusti Ayu Bintang Darmawati, Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection of Indonesia and head of the delegation, presenting the report, detailed the severe effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the situation of women in Indonesia, noting that it had caused serious setbacks to development progress and that restrictive measures risked bringing about violence against women and girls. The Indonesian Government’s response had included an intensive vaccination effort, leading the country to emerge as a global leader in vaccination.
A speaker from the National Human Rights Institution of Indonesia noted that it had created a team to encourage the Government to protect human rights defenders, adding that progress in the promotion of women’s rights in Indonesia had been possible through cooperation between the State and civil society.
The delegation of Indonesia was made up of representatives of the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection; the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Cultural Affairs; the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology; the Ministry of Law and Human Rights; the Ministry of Home Affairs; the Ministry of National Development Planning; the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of Finance; the Ministry of Social Affairs; the Ministry of Health; the Ministry of Labour; the National Statistic Agency; the Ministry of Religion; the National Population and Family Planning Agency; the Indonesian National Armed Force; the Indonesian National Police; the National Task Force for Covid-19 Response; the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology; the Supreme Court; the Provincial Government of Papua; the Provincial Government of West Papua; the Provincial Government of Aceh; and the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’s eightieth session is being held from 18 October to 12 November. All the documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage. The meeting summary releases prepared on the public meetings of the Committee can be found here. The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings can be accessed at https://webtv.un.org/.
The Committee will next meet at 3 p.m. on Friday, 29 October, to conclude its consideration of the tenth periodic report of Ecuador (CEDAW/C/ECU/10).
Report
The Committee has before it the eighth periodic report of Indonesia (CEDAW/C/IDN/8).
Presentation of the Report
I GUSTI AYU BINTANG DARMAWATI, Minister for Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection of Indonesia and head of the delegation, said today’s dialogue reflected Indonesia’s commitment to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Despite the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesia had continued its established practice of involving relevant ministries, human rights institutions, academia and civil society organizations, and all other relevant stakeholders in the reporting process. Indonesia was the fourth-most populous country in the world with an estimated population of around 270 million, living on more than 16,000 islands. Gender mainstreaming strategies had been integrated into Indonesia’s development strategies, and its human rights strategy included women as a priority target group.
The Indonesian Government had five priority areas, including enhancing women’s empowerment in entrepreneurship; increasing the role of mothers in children’s education, reducing violence against women and children; reducing child labour; and prevention of child marriage. Facilitating access to education for women was important, as was facilitating economic participation through access to financial services and increasing digital literacy. At the international level, Indonesia was strongly committed to gender equality, as demonstrated through its support for the Beijing Declaration and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. Progress on addressing challenges, including the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations, had been addressed in the report now before the Committee. Strengthening the normative framework on the protection of women and girls, enhancement of the economic capacity for women, and promoting the rights of women and girls with disabilities, were among the areas of work.
Emerging challenges spurred Indonesia to search for creative solutions, the Minister said, reviewing the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the country. Its effects were unquestionable and had caused serious setbacks to development progress. It remained a global challenge. The Indonesian Government’s response had included an intensive vaccination effort, leading the country to emerge as a global leader in vaccination. It aimed to reach 200 million people by the end of 2021. The Indonesian Government was not losing sight of its cautious and anticipatory policies in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The multiple and disproportionate effect of the pandemic on women and girls was beyond question, and for a country like Indonesia, it meant the pandemic had severely affected 133 million women nationally.
Social protection programmes were important when economic recession took place, the Minister noted.
To address the increasing cases of domestic violence during the implementation of some restriction measures, the police had stepped up existing efforts to address the issue in accordance to the health protocol during the pandemic. The provision of special assistance for women, children, and the elderly included nutritional assistance and the provision of personal protective equipment. It was an unfortunate fact that the pandemic had caused around 140,000 fatalities. The Government had increased the expenditure of social protection programmes to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic. Special attention was given to women micro-entrepreneurs, including through measures enabling them to produce masks as a temporary measure during the pandemic. Millions of micro-enterprises had benefited from assistance programmes.
The COVID-19 pandemic had caused Indonesia to redouble its efforts to assist the most vulnerable populations. The dialogue would show Indonesia’s commitment to women, and the delegation stood ready to engage in a constructive dialogue with the Committee. Considering the importance of the global commitment to uphold the rights of women and girls, Indonesia encouraged the Committee to cooperate more with other treaty bodies.
GRATA ENDAH WERDANINGTYAS, Chargé d’Affaires, Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said Indonesia would continue to advance multilateralism to enable all States parties to adapt and evolve on an equal footing. What was needed was a sincere global partnership and a constructive dialogue. Women’s issues had become second nature in Indonesia’s diplomacy. Indonesia had initiated action in the Security Council on women and peacekeeping. As an example, she cited the protection of women migrant workers as a priority of Indonesia. Indonesia was determined to promote women representatives in various international bodies; a third of its Mission staff were women, representing the future of Indonesia’s diplomacy. Indonesia’s investment in the core values of the Convention was well-spent, she said.
National Human Rights Institution of Indonesia said it had a specific mandate to eliminate violence against women. Its work comprised compiling data on reported cases, and information regarding discriminatory bylaws in the name of religion and majority rule at regional levels, among other issues. It had also created a team to encourage the Government to protect human rights defenders. The progress achieved in the promotion of women’s rights in Indonesia had been possible through multi-stakeholder coordination and cooperation between the State and civil society. There was a need to revise the Criminal Code in Aceh that reduced legal protection for women and children. Recurring incidents of violence in Papua, as well as natural resources-based conflicts and their impact on the indigenous community, were also areas of concern.
Questions from a Committee Expert
ROSARIO MANALO, Committee Member, asked the delegation about legislation criminalising all same-sex relations, asking whether all discriminatory laws would be repealed? Women were required to cover their bodies, and there was a practice of forced veiling. Those practices violated women’s human rights. Virginity testing amounted to sexual assault, she noted, asking whether Indonesia’s Ministry of Health would condemn virginity tests?
Responses from the Delegation
The delegation said the Government of Indonesia fully understood the limitations of the Penal Code, which was adopted from the Netherlands. The Penal Code bill had preventive and restorative aspects, and non-governmental organizations had been invited to provide input. The bill had to be in line with the needs of Indonesia’s domestic constituency. The questions put by the Committee would be taken as input into the bill. It was hoped that discriminatory local regulations would cease to appear. Regarding the criminalisation of same-sex regulations, that would also be looked at in the drafting of the Penal Code bill. As for the use of the hijab, schools could not oblige their students to wear the hijab. Students had a right to decide which uniform to wear, in accordance with their religion or belief.
Indonesia had consistently taken efforts so women were not subjected to discrimination, including in the context of virginity tests. The National Police had excluded virginity-related matters from health requirements since 2016. There had not been any complaints as regards health examinations for candidates for National Police members. As regards the armed forces, the recruitment of soldiers did not include a virginity test; the health exam was a holistic exam, including mental health. The test was done to guarantee that when a soldier was taken on, they were healthy in body, mind and spirit.
Indonesia had mechanisms to ensure that regional regulations were in line with national law, including judicial review through the Constitutional and Supreme Courts. Through a series of reviews involving stakeholders, including civil society, the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Human Rights had identified legislation that was considered intolerant and discriminatory, and which needed to be revised.
Follow-up Questions from a Committee Expert
ROSARIO MANALO, Committee Member, said numerous cases of intimidation, humiliation and arbitrary arrest on the grounds of sexual orientation had been identified by human rights organizations. The draft Criminal Code punished extramarital sex. Would Indonesia communicate that it opposed criminalising sex outside marriage, and same-sex conduct?
Follow-up Responses from the Delegation