Passing the Sexual Violence Crime Law in Indonesia: Reflection of a Gender-Sensitive Parliament?

Abstract

After a decade of deliberation, the draft sexual violence eradication bill was finally passed by the Indonesian parliament on 12 April 2022, enacted as the Sexual Violence Crime Law (Undang-Undang Tindak Pidana Kekerasan Seksual). The draft, which was first initiated by the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) and later adopted as a parliamentary initiative, sparked controversy both inside and outside parliament. This article aims to describe the law-making process and identify the critical actors and acts as well as institutional responses that led to the passing of the law. It considers whether the experience can be interpreted as a reflection of a gender-sensitive parliament. Using a qualitative research approach, we identified critical actors and various responses from the parliament as an institution in responding to the dynamics of resistance and encouragement for the draft law to be passed. Our research material consists of interviews, news articles, and official document data. We found that critical actors and actions are key in the law-making process along with strong political will and collaboration between lawmakers, government representatives, civil society organizations, and the media, but the passage of this legislation alone does not fulfill the full requirement of a gender-sensitive parliament.