September 22, 2023
JAKARTA – While the government has been pushing for the application of restorative justice to reduce judicial costs and prison overcrowding, its implementation in Indonesia often fails to provide victims of gender-based violence with a sense of justice and protection from further harm, a recent study has revealed.
Restorative justice refers to an out-of-court approach, which focuses on perpetrators, victims and other members of the community meeting to seek a resolution that fosters healing, reparation and reintegration, while also preventing future harm.
In such meetings, the perpetrator expresses remorse for the harm caused and the group responds by agreeing actions the offender can take to repair the harm. In Indonesia, such a process often involves the police, prosecutors and traditional institutions.
In theory, such an approach can benefit victims of gender-based violence, as it considers the needs and interests of victims after the harm is done, unlike the conventional criminal system.
But a recent issued study by the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) found that more than half, 57 percent, of victims were not satisfied with the restorative justice applied in their cases. Only a quarter of all victims surveyed felt “recovered or healed” from the violence they experienced after undergoing the restorative justice process.
The study, conducted from August 2022 to September this year, involved nearly 450 respondents in nine provinces, including police officers, prosecutors, social workers, activists and victims of gender-based violence.
Several victims also said that they were specifically unsatisfied with the methods used by police officers handling their cases.
Instead of focusing on the victims’ needs, the process also often discriminated against victims of gender-based violence and neglected their recovery.
Most victims told the surveyors that authorities did not consider their opinions in finding solutions to settle their cases. They also complained of feeling unsafe and uncomfortable throughout the process.
The victims also did not receive any benefits from the application of such an approach, as the restitution paid by perpetrators was mostly used by the victims’ family members. Some victims reported repeated violence after their cases were settled out of court.
Some victims also reported being pressured to seek restorative justice because they did not have the financial means to file charges and go through the long judicial process.
No clear guidelines
The restorative justice used by authorities often provides impunity to perpetrators and increases the risk of recurring violence due to the lack of accountability, Komnas Perempuan commissioner Theresia Sri Endras Iswarini argued.
Recently, a 24-year-old mother-of-two, identified as Mega Suryani Dewi, was killed by her husband in Bekasi, West Java. The victims’ family said that Mega had previously reported her husband, but had her case dismissed after the husband told the police that the pair had reconciled.
In 2020, police dropped rape charges against four employees of the Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry after the case was settled by the victim, a female contract staffer at the ministry, marrying one of her alleged abusers.
“Law enforcement institutions fail to monitor victims and perpetrators after their settlements,” she said. “Authorities also don’t keep the victims’ recovery in mind throughout the process.”
Most police officers were also not formally trained in such processes, especially in relation to the complex nature and power dynamics of gender-based violence.
The lack of clear regulations on which cases of gender violence should be omitted from restorative justice also exacerbated the situations. “Police, prosecutors and judges have different internal regulations regarding restorative justice, allowing different interpretations to occur,” Theresia said.
Komnas Perempuan highlighted the importance of strong and clear regulations, as well as thorough training for law enforcers to prevent the misguided implementation of restorative justice.
Robert Sitinjak of the Attorney General’s Office acknowledged that prosecutors often give misleading directions to investigators in applying restorative justice in cases of gender-based violence.
Meanwhile, police officers were puzzled due to a lack of technical guidelines pertaining to the application of restorative justice, said Comr. Ciceu Meilawati of the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim).
“We are also often hindered by the long bureaucracy,” Ciceu said, referring to the requirement for investigators to secure approval from the Bareskrim chief in Jakarta to apply a restorative justice approach to resolving a case.
The National Police recently conveyed a plan to upgrade its women’s and children’s protection subdirectorate into a directorate. Such a move would allow the unit to obtain more officers, which would be prioritized for female police officers and teams to provide psychological assistance.