Today, the International Commission of Jurists made a submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) in view of its forthcoming review on Indonesia’s implementation of and compliance with its obligations under CEDAW in light of the State party’s eighth periodic report under Article 18 of the Convention.
In its submission, the ICJ focused on two issues, namely: lack of gender responsive measures to protect women in the context of Indonesia’s purported response to the COVID-19 pandemic and discriminatory laws and bills against women in Indonesia.
On the lack of gender responsive measures to protect women during the pandemic, ICJ urged the Indonesian government to continuously improve the program and policies to better address the impact of COVID-19, especially for women workers. The ICJ also urged the government to ensure access to vaccine for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women. The government should reach out to transwomen and waive the e-KTP (electronic identity card) as the requirement to receive vaccination.
With regards to the issue on discriminatory laws and bills against women in Indonesia, ICJ urged the Indonesian government to amend the provisions of the law on job creation that threaten women workers’ exercise of their sexual and reproductive rights.
ICJ also urged the government to pass the sexual violence bill to prevent sexual violence and provide redress to the survivor of sexual violence.
All ICJ recommendations to the Indonesian government are to ensure that the two issues as mentioned above can be effectively addressed in a manner that complies with the country’s obligations under the CEDAW and other international human rights law and standards.
The ICJ’s full submission is available here.
