While Shaking Yospan, Young Papuans Reject Sexual Violence

While Shaking Yospan, Young Papuans Reject Sexual Violence

Dozens of young Papuans gather at Taman Imbi, which is located right in the heart of Jayapura City. Sunday afternoon, this group of young people rocked together, dancing Yospan dances from Papua.

Young people's feet and hands sway simultaneously to the right and left, up and down, following the accompaniment of music playing from the loudspeakers.

Yospan or Yosim Pancar is a dance that is usually performed by young Papuans, to illustrate friendship with agile and cheerful movements.

Today, Yospan's sway, which was followed by dozens of young Papuans, was deliberately made for a campaign to stop sexual violence that coincided with International Women's Day.

Nourish Griapon from the Civil Society Coalition Against Sexual Violence said the Yospan dance was deliberately chosen, so that people could more easily remember the campaign that was carried out.

"Yospan is closely related to Papuans, it is already familiar. We hope that with the Yospan dance, the campaign to stop violence against women in Papua is also easily remembered by everyone," he explained, Sunday (03/08/2020).

The Anti-Sexual Violence Coalition has observed that the public response to cases of sexual violence has not become a concern of many parties.

"There is an assumption that discussing sexual violence is a taboo subject, even many victims are reluctant to report cases experienced. In fact, many parties tend to blame the victim if they get sexual violence," he said.

The Anti Sexual Violence Coalition considers that so far there are still many people who lack knowledge about services for victims, plus the media that do not care about the confidentiality of the victims' identities, religious and state institutions that protect perpetrators, as well as legal institutions that do not side with the victims.

This condition makes the perpetrators of sexual violence continue to move freely to repeat their actions and even new actors appear. Victims continue to grow.

In response to these conditions, coinciding with International Women's Day, the Anti-Sexual Violence Coalition stated 7 attitude points:

1. Refuse all forms of violence against women including sexual violence.

2. Urge the President and the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (DPR RI) to immediately ratify the Bill on the Elimination of Sexual Violence (RUU PKS).

3. Urge the police to work professionally and use the victim's perspective in handling sexual violence cases.

4. Urge legal aid institutions to really bring the interests of victims in handling cases of sexual violence.

5. Urge media workers to prioritize coverage according to the perspective of Human Rights (HAM), protection of victims of women and children, avoid judgment, and prioritize information on both sides of the coverage.

6. Urge the government to carry out sexuality and reproductive health education early on in educational institutions.

7. Urge the general public to be brave in opposing sexual violence, protect victims, report every case of sexual crime, and access available legal assistance.