Ms. Ayu Mentari was appointed as the Head of the Child and Women Protection Task Force (Satgas PPA) of Kotapulu Village, Sigi Regency, Central Sulawesi, in 2020. At that time she was also trusted as the village’s Head of Planning Affairs. In her three years as Head of the Task Force, she has encountered and experienced many things. One of them was handling a case of domestic violence (KDRT) whose victim went back and forth withdrawing the report.
Ibu Ayu emphasizes that violence against women in her village has not increased seriously during her time with the Task Force. “Maybe the knowledge of the community more or less knows that violence is not allowed. Because we ourselves from the Task Force, KPKP-ST, the agency and IPAS Indonesia assistance have training and socialization,” she said.
Even so, he admitted that domestic violence often occurs in his village. In fact, she once handled a domestic violence case in which the victim went back and forth and retracted her report up to three times. This case is so imprinted in his memory.
“[Laporan] first domestic violence, we assist, we mediate with the family. After that, [kita] make an agreement letter. Not long after, [pasangan suami istri tersebut kembali] got along. After a few months, it happened with the same condition. We took action. Got along again. Not long after, it happened again, the third time already,” recalls Mrs. Ayu.
The victim immediately reported the case to the police. Ms. Ayu only found out after being contacted by Sigi Police to become a witness in the case. Unfortunately, she could no longer communicate with the victim because her phone number was no longer active.
“There is news that I heard, before reporting [ke polisi], there was a statement that the victim was out of town,” added Mrs. Ayu.
Not only that, Ibu Ayu also faced other challenges while on the Task Force. Among them is the Covid-19 pandemic which began in early 2020. As a result of the pandemic, the budget for the Task Force is no longer a priority. Village officials are indeed prioritizing the handling of the pandemic.
“At the beginning of 2020 [desa] allocated Rp 5 million after the following year there was [pandemi] Covid from above (central government, ed) village funds there are plot parts, to increase the allocation of the task force is a bit so difficult,” he said.
He hopes that for 2024, the Task Force can get an additional budget because the Covid-19 pandemic has ended. He added that for 2024, his team will focus on conducting socialization by distributing a number of brochures and other communication media.
“In Kotapulu itself, socialization is still limited to the village office. We distributed invitations. The last one was with KPKP-ST, visiting schools. It’s still limited to that. If IPAS Indonesia still supports us, we will continue to other groups,” he concluded.
KPKP-ST through support from the IPAS Indonesia Foundation has conducted 80 socialization activities related to Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights in 20 villages in Sigi and Donggala districts in the period August-December 2022. A total of 1,608 residents participated in the activities. KPKP-STalso held a workshop to encourage innovation among village officials in creating policies and financial support to address issues of sexual and gender-based violence.
