Komnas Perempuan Launches New and Improved Call Center for Violence Victims

Reporting on violence against women in Indonesia has been made much easier and accurate with the help the newly launched Cloud Call Center at the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan). A partnership between Komnas Perempuan and ICT solution company Telkomtestra, the new system makes it possible for the Commission to take a lot more reports by phones using a new call-center number and to track down calls so that they can respond to the reports with the right measures.

The system is particularly aimed at facilitating those reporting sexual violence that occur within the cyberspace.

 

Komnas Perempuan Chair Azriana R Manalu said during the launch of the system on Nov. 4: “With cybercrimes, victims do not have to report directly. They can report their cases online. With Cloud Call Center reporting sexual cybercrimes has become much easier.”

Previously, Komnas Perempuan’s call center, which is based in Jakarta, is manned by people, opening up to possibilities of human errors and making data collecting too time consuming. The Cloud Call Center makes phone conversations much easier to track, so that violence victims everywhere can be assisted rapidly.

“These women all over Indonesia have one thing is common: they are all under the cloud, so we hope that a cloud contact center would be able to reach every single one who needs help,” said Erik Meijer, President Director of Telkomtelstra.

Azriana said that taking perpetrators of cyber sexual violence to court is a tough task:   “There is no law that regulates cyber sexual violence, so what we usually do is help the victims recover first. We contact their friends and families and try to make them understand that this is not the victim’s fault.”

“If there is enough strong evidence, we counterattack the abusers using the Law on Electronic Information and Transaction on spreading pornography. All that is made possible by our call center that has helped many women in the past. With the new features, we can help more,” said Azriana.

The Caller ID technology features helps collect data of the victims the moment they access the call center. It makes it easier to use the data when the case is being taken to court. Another important feature of the new call center is the voice mail function, which makes it possible for callers to report when all the phones are busy, which is often the case. Now they can just leave a message and the call center staff would be able to go back to them with the help they need. This is also useful for further investigations and research on all cases of violence against women, explained Azriana.

Cyber sexual violence has been a difficult case to solve in many countries too. Even when the visuals or writings have been taken down, they could easily be shared again by other parties that have saved or screencapped it. Cases like cyber sexual violence also have additional complexities that make it more challenging to bring to justice using existing laws. In cases of revenge porn, instead of getting help to recover, victims are primarily blamed by people, including their families, friends, and their work environment. In some cases, they are further punished by being expelled from their schools or fired from their job.

“Anyone could be a victim of cyber sexual violence,” said Nadya Karima Melati, co-founder of Support Group and Resource Center on Sexuality Studies (SGRC). “It’s not about why the victims would put themselves in the position that may jeopardize them, but why were the materials leaked in the first place? If the victim did not give consent, then there is nothing to justify the act of spreading the materials.”

Nadya, whose organization has done some researches into cyber sexual crimes, blamed the secondary role women still holds in society that places them in the domestic setting and may result in their lack of knowledge in technology. Also, many people are still not aware of the effects of the media and how it can ruin their lives, she added.

Llia Halimatussadiah, co-manager of Girls in Tech, encourages women and youth to be more media and internet-savvy.

“There are many workshops that could help women to know what they should do when they are hacked or experiencing cyber sexual violence. I think a lot of people, both male and female, would benefit from them. If you focus on positive things, not only will you not be tempted to do unnecessary things but also be able to fight and protect yourself,” she said.

If you want to report a case of violence against women, dial Komnas Perempuan’s new call center ‎+62 21 80605399.

Find out why sexual violence survivors in schools and campuses choose to stay silent over their assault.  

Angesti Citra Asih is an intern reporter at Magdalene and final assignment warrior at Universitas Multimedia Nusantara. Her favorite conversation topics are humanity and pop culture. She loves music, especially contemporary R&B like Teza Semendra and Honne, and enjoys playing ukulele and guitar.