Yogyakarta – In commemoration of World Population Day 2023, the UGM Center for Population and Policy Studies (CPPS) held a seminar with the theme “A Population of 8 Billion: Understanding Population Trends to Understand Women’s Rights and Voices Towards Demographic Resilience”.
The seminar took place in the Prof. Auditorium Building. Dr. Agus Dwiyanto, M.P.A., UGM, Bulaksumur, Yogyakarta, on Tuesday, July 25 2023, directly invited a number of experts including UNFPA Indonesia, the Commissioner of the National Commission on Violence Against Women, Komnas HAM, IPADI, and UGM PSKK expert researchers to discuss the existence of women in society.
One of the issues in this discussion is violence against women’s fertility and bodies which still occurs today. Women often experience injustice in their role in giving birth to offspring. “Society still has the opinion that a woman’s nature is to give birth to offspring, not as an individual choice. “There are many cases where women who are unwilling or unable to have children experience discrimination,” said Komnas Perempuan Commissioner, Satyawanti Mashudi.
Komnas HAM data states that cases of violence against women related to fertility are still very high, such as cases of rape, forced pregnancy, forced sterilisation, forced marriage, forced abortion, and so on. “The data we have received shows that women experience problems in their right to have or not have children. One of them was a case where a woman was prohibited from using contraception, in the end she secretly used it because she felt she had enough children, but her husband forbade her to use contraception,” added Wanti.
Not only about limiting women’s rights in the household, this seminar also raised the issue of violence and forced sex on teenage girls. “At least 42.7% of unmarried women have experienced cases of violence, and there were 3528 cases of violence in relationships. Included in this data are children aged 14-15 years, still very young. “Most of them think that the people they care about are a safe place, even though it’s not,” said CPPS UGM researcher, Dr. Dewi Haryani Susilastuti, M.Sc.
“There are several types of violence in dating. These include physical violence and emotional violence. Most teenagers don’t understand the concept of emotional violence which is usually conveyed verbally,” said Dewi. This type of violence is considered to be as dangerous as physical violence, because it can affect the emotional and mental character of teenagers. In fact, emotional violence can also indirectly lead to physical violence.
The context of an unhealthy relationship also extends to the issue of sexual relations outside of marriage. Dewi explained that sexual behavior outside of marriage among teenagers can occur through coercion or consent, but both are based on a lack of understanding from the individual himself. “There are many cases of forced sexual relations outside of marriage, but what is currently no less dangerous is when this behavior is carried out based on trends. Teenagers find themselves in a position where they feel left behind by their friends just because they have never had sex. This is something parents should be aware of,” added Dewi.
The large number of cases of violence against women are still very difficult to handle if there is no support from the surrounding environment. The social construction of society must begin to change gradually to create a safe environment for women.***
You can download materials related to this seminar at the following link: Materi
