Indonesia's parliament passed a long-awaited bill on Tuesday to tackle sexual violence, aimed at building stronger cases and helping victims to secure justice in a country where sexual abuse has often been regarded as a private matter. A majority of lawmakers backed the bill at the plenary session in parliament, overcoming opposition from some conservative groups in the world's biggest Muslim majority country after six years of deliberation. "We hope that the implementation of this law will resolve sexual violence cases," said house speaker Puan Maharani.
The legislation has been broadly welcomed by activists, though some have objected to its limited scope, with only some sex crimes included and rape omitted. The government has said rape is covered in a revision of the criminal code currently being drawn up. "As a survivor, all this time, it was like hitting the wall," said one victim, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
She said she chose not to make a formal complaint against her abuser after hearing that other victims had been mistreated by authorities. "If this bill had existed, I would've had more hope to find justice," she said.
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