Indonesian Minister for Women Empowerment and Children Protection Linda Agum Gumelar said on Tuesday that more active gender equality socialization will reduce violence against women and children.
"We have been commemorating the International Women's Day every year and today is the 100th. But, the issue is always about violence. This is a big question. Maybe we have to be more active in socializing gender equality in terms of harmony. It doesn't mean that women should take a more active role than men but we have to balance each other in the development process," said Gumelar on the sidelines of commemoration of the 100th International Women's Day in the parliamentary building.
She said that if gender equality socialization runs well from big cities to remote areas throughout Indonesia, it is expected that violence against women could be reduced.
According to Gumelar, data show that violence cases increase year by year. However, she said, that was triggered by an increasing number of women reporting violence against them.
"No we have the Law of Domestic Violence that protects those who report violence in homes. That triggers more women to report violence against them and triggers the increasing number. However, I think domestic violence in the past is bigger as not many women dared to report at that time," she said.
Data provided by the National Commission of Women show that the number of violence against women in 2010 reached 105,103 cases, increasing eight folds compared to 2009.
