The earthquake that shook Palu, Sigi and Donggala in 2018 changed the course of one Ms. Yuni Agustina Djamhuri’s life. She decided to quit being a teacher and became involved in fighting for justice for women. She saw how women were often victims of violence and sexual assault in refugee camps. This image was a calling for her to assist women’s violence cases.
Since 2018, Ms. Yuni has handled approximately 200 cases since joining KPKPST (Central Sulawesi Women’s Equality Struggle Group). Because of the number of cases she has to assist, the label “case mother” is attached to her. She admits that some cases are easy to handle. But there are also those that drain energy because they deal with local customary rules.
“I see myself as a woman who can help people. It started after the earthquake [2018]. A family offered me to join KPKPST. What is KPKPST? It works on women’s issues and protects women. I became a KPKPST volunteer,” recalled Ms. Yuni.
Although she has no legal background, Ms. Yuni sees her work as a learning process. Many of her colleagues at KPKPST who are more senior often share their knowledge of case assistance. She said that the key to being a victim advocate is empathy and not discriminating against victims.
Customary rules that do not pay attention to women’s justice
Ms. Yuni often gets a headache when cases of sexual violence, especially with child victims, are resolved through customary law and family law. According to her, the rules in adat pay little attention to justice for women as victims. For example, the victim and perpetrator are both asked to slaughter a goat as a fine for the act.
In the community’s belief, sexual violence or rape is a disgrace to the village. They believe this can cause calamity in the village. To ward off bad luck, the victim and perpetrator must sacrifice an animal such as a goat. Then the meat, after being slaughtered, is cooked and made into a meal for the whole village.
She once assisted the case of a 14-year-old girl who was raped by 12 adult perpetrators. Both the village government and customary institutions were adamant that the case be resolved by custom. The victim and perpetrators were fined one goat and Rp 2 million in cash. She had to argue with the predominantly male authorities and the customary institution.
Ms. Yuni was adamant that the case be reported to the police. One of the reasons was that the victim was a child from a poor family. This was very unfair: the victim was told to pay a fine too.
After being reported to the police, the perpetrator was tried and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The victim was not given the traditional punishment.
Mental health as a companion to violence cases
When she feels overwhelmed, Ms. Yuni usually asks her colleagues to handle it first. When many cases come in, she usually prioritizes the most urgent ones. If she starts to feel dizzy and nauseous due to her mental health condition, what she usually does is rest at home.
“I hear left and right (about cases of violence). Especially if there are several cases, I go directly to the scene,” he said.
Despite the mental health challenges, Ibu Yuni continues to come forward where there is injustice for women. Especially in villages, where people are afraid to report and other factors that make women feel they have no choice but to surrender.
“There are still many remote areas, they are not willing to speak (openly) about their cases that they have heard or experienced directly. [Mereka] who are very difficult in remote areas. They feel scared if their case is reported, because they get threats from the perpetrator. This makes them reluctant to report their cases,” he said.
