Nurani Perempuan Visits the Padang Administration to Discuss the High Prevalence of Gender-based Violence

On 28 November 2019, Nurani Perempuan Women’s Crisis Center (NPWCC) Padang — a MAMPU Partner that works in West Sumatra — had an audience with the Mayor of Padang, who was represented by the Women’s Empowerment, Child Protection, Population Control and Family Planning Agency (P3AP2KB). NPWCC Padang representative Rahmi Meri Yenti explained that the meeting was designed to push for increased government commitment to fulfilling victim’s rights to recovery, reparations, and guarantees of non-repetition.

The participants of the audience — which was held to mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign — provided a number of recommendations to the Padang City Government and especially to the P3AP2KB. It was recommended that the local government and P3AP2KB should: 1) Develop a violence prevention and women’s protection program; 2) Create a policy to speed up the handling of violence against women cases; 3) Prioritise the allocation of funds for the prevention, handling, and recovery of victims of violence against women, especially sexual violence; and 3) Launch a capacity building program to increase the capacity of government officials in regards to handling cases of violence against women.

The high levels of violence against women and children in West Sumatra and especially in Padang City meant the audience was very important. In 2017, 75 cases of violence against women occurred in Padang. In the same year, 132 cases were documented in West Sumatra and this figure increased to 154 in 2018. In Padang, 61 cases of violence against women had been recorded as of October 2019.