Men out to end violence against women

[ismnotwasm]

On a recent sunny Sunday at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Jakarta, five men in miniskirts displayed posters condemning violence against women.

One of the posters read, “Real Men Don’t Rape”, while another said, “Let’s unite to fight against rape”.

Syaldi Sahude, one of three national coordinators for The New Men’s Alliance (ALLB) said the alliance was created to raise awareness among men about the need to end violence against women.

“We also want men to be more concerned about gender equality, because discrimination leads to violence,” Syaldi said. ALLB was established in response to the increasing violence against women in Indonesia. The Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) recorded 4,335 rapes in Indonesia in 2011, of which 2,937 cases happened in public spaces.

Syaldi, who formerly worked for Jurnal Perempuan (Women’s Journal) often met victims of violence, like women who were raped during the May 1998 riots. She said that ALLB came into being on Oct. 8 during a meeting with activists from Women Rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), such as Jurnal Perempuan, Pulih Foundation, Cahaya Perempuan Women’s Crisis Center Bengkulu, Rifka Annisa of Yogyakarta, Rumah Perempuan (Women’s Home) Kupang, and Men’s Forum from Aceh. The meeting, facilitated by World Population Foundation Indonesia, decided that ALLB should base its activities in Yogyakarta because its activists were already working closely with Rifka Annisa there.

ALLB sees violence against women as just one of the negative results of a patriarchal system. The alliance believes it causes various kinds of trouble for women and for men too.

“When I was a teenager in Makassar, I bowed to peer pressure and bullied transvestites. I realized that was wrong. So when I moved to Jakarta, I decided to get a closer look at the impact of patriarchy on society by working with women’s organizations. I came to understand, for example, that men should not be afraid to cry; that this would not make them weak,” he said.

http://m.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/04/19/men-out-end-violence-against-women.html

[redqueen]

1. This is wonderful.

I like this.

“We are particularly concerned that the punishment for rape in the criminal code is not harsh enough. Rapists only face 15 years maximum in prison, and most don’t serve that much time, while rape victims suffer for a lifetime,” he said.

It makes me furious when people shame rape victims by implying there is anything wrong with them if they don't react the way those people would prefer. Everyone is different and every victim copes in whatever way they can. It breaks my heart to hear women say that it's been so long, why aren't they over it... no one should feel guilt for feeling pain FFS.

[smirkymonkey]

2. I love this. Thank you!

[seabeyond]

3. excellent stuff. this is what we want to hear and see. yea. nt