Sukoharjo – The Sukoharjo District Government continues to strive to end violence against women. Coinciding with the commemoration of Mother’s Day which falls in December and also 16 Days Against Violence Against Women (HAKTP), the government invites the community to pay attention to the importance of the existence of women in various development sectors.
This was conveyed by Sukoharjo Regent Etik Suryani represented by Regional Secretary Widodo at the EmpowerHer event : Raising the Hidden Voice, Fighting Violence, at Menara Wijaya Building, December 4, 2023. The event was a collaboration between the Sukoharjo District Government with SPEK-HAM Surakarta and the Indonesian Initiative for Change in Access to Health (IPAS) Foundation supported by the Government of Canada.
The Sukoharjo Regent said that this commemoration is a spearhead to advance the life of the nation because women in Indonesia have an important role in various aspects of life such as in the economic, social and cultural sectors for sustainable development.
“This Mother’s Day commemoration coincides with the 16 HAKTP campaign, which is an international campaign to encourage efforts to eliminate violence for all women in the world. Violence against women is a form of human rights violation. Therefore, I expect Indonesian women to increase their capacity, competence and ability. Women must also help and appreciate each other. Together with women, we will realize the golden Indonesia 2024,” she said.
Nur Jannah, National Program Manager of IPAS Indonesia Foundation, appreciated the Sukoharjo government’s efforts to eradicate violence against women. Among them is the capacity building in handling cases of violence carried out by the PPKBP3A Office of Sukoharjo Regency. To support the government in handling comprehensive sexual violence, she also introduced the ARUNIKA program which will be carried out for the next 3.5 years in Sukoharjo.
“ARUNIKA supports the Sukoharjo Regency Government to ensure that women are empowered and free from violence, especially sexual violence. This program aims to encourage service modeling in implementing derivatives of Law No. 12 of 2022 concerning Criminal Acts of Sexual Violence (TPKS),” she said.
The program is supported by the Government of Canada and will be implemented in Sukoharjo together with Yayasan IPAS Indonesia and local partners. Novi Anggriani, Senior International Assistance Officer at the Embassy of Canada to Indonesia, emphasized that preventing and responding to gender-based sexual violence is a priority in the Canadian government’s international assistance policy.
“The Government of Canada is committed to working with all stakeholders to prevent sexual and gender-based violence and provide better support for survivors. Let us work together to protect and advance women’s rights,” Novi said.
In this activity, a number of stakeholders, including the Sukoharjo Regional Secretary, PPKBP3A Office, Community and Village Empowerment Office, Investment and Integrated Services Office, TP-PKK, Youth and Sports Office, Environment Office, and Industry and Manpower Office, signed a joint commitment to realize Sukoharjo District free from sexual violence.
