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  1. The Cases of LBH APIK Jakarta Partners (2021)

The Cases of LBH APIK Jakarta Partners (2021)

Other women’s experiences were obtained through the stories of OGBV victims who reported to LBH APIK Jakarta (hereinafter referred to as partners).36 It should be noted that in this case, we use “partner” to refer to the “victim” so that the relationship between the staff as their companion and the victim is not a vertical relationship (between the victim and their attorney only), but parallel. The spirit is to empower victims, so that legal steps do not stop at LBH APIK as their legal representative, but also by providing information and knowledge for the partners so that they can empower themselves and seek law independently if they must carry out legal processes without LBH APIK.37

The first case involving Partner S and her ex-boyfriend concerns the repeated threat by him to distribute their intimate videos that he had kept on his smartphone. During their relationship, they had exchanged the intimate content with mutual consent, but following their breaking up, the perpetrator (named U) threatened to spread the content if she declined his “coffee” meetings.

“Jadi aku kenal dari akun alterku di Twitter, Kak, lalu aku sempet tukertukeran kontak via WhatsApp dan muncul adanya hasrat seksual antara aku sama dia, ga lama kemudian kita juga tuker-tukeran foto intim itu, Kak,

35 Ibid, Comment section, this is based on real cited comment on this page, like user EM saying: “Even the smartest people hiding their shit, the smell will show up somehow, I am sad for the ex-husband”, then user ROP said, “Women are so scary with her ellegance and her surprising behavior… Women are really geniuses in hiding these things…”, user VW commented: “Finally she can speak well without jumping up and down, hair everywhere, tongue everywhere, with coquettish voice, hehehe”. On the other side, there are also people who shoutout their support to GA as user CC commented: “Cheer up GA, hopefully this problem shall pass”, then user MI commented: “Chin up Mama G, you’ve very brave on being honest and saying sorry is very admirable”, also user HP commented: “Hopefully this problem shall pass, imagine you in her shoes now…”

36 The experiences of women OGBV victims are received straight away from the victims to the authors when Author 1 volunteered in Legal Services Division in LBH APIK from May to June 2021 to help the process of OGBV victims. The concept of consent itself is something that is given knowingly and without coercion to engage in sexual activity where everyone freely expresses their consent and one’s consent cannot be assumed.

37 Interview with Kak Said, a staff from LBH Apik in 20 June 2021.

tapi setelah putus hubungan dan aku minta dia hapus semua foto yang ada akunya, dia ga kunjung hapus dan malah ngancem bakal nyebarin foto aku, ada yang ada mukaku dan ada yang engga. Dia juga malah nyuruh aku hapus sendiri tapi harus ketemu buat ngopi gitu, tapi aku tau maksud dia lain Kak.”

“So, I know this man through my alter account in Twitter, then we exchanged numbers via WhatsApp and this sexual attraction arose between us. Not long after, we actually exchanged intimate photos. After I broke up with him, I asked him to delete all my photos, but he kept them instead and threatened to spread my pictures, some with my face and others without. He said I could delete them myself by meeting him for a coffee, but I knew what he had in mind.”

A similar story is that of Partner AS when she was threatened by her exboyfriend, named AO, with the distribution of intimate videos. The sex was forced and recorded without Partner AS’ consent so with the objective to blackmail her by threatening that he would send the videos to her family and relatives.

“Suatu hari di tahun 2017, aku diancem untuk berhubungan sama mantan aku, tapi aku gatau kalau ternyata seluruh hubungan tersebut direkam diemdiem sama pelaku pake kamera handphone-nya di tempat tersembunyi gitu Kak. Besokannya juga aku diancem sama dia untuk disebarin videonya garagara gamau aku putusin Kak, nah dari situ aku jadi tau kalo dia ternyata selama ini ngerekam diam-diam hubungan seksual kita. Dia juga ngancem mau nyebarin ke keluargaku Kak dan setelah beberapa kali dia juga sempet stalking aku dan itu bikin aku ga nyaman sama sekali.”

“One day back in 2017, I was forced to have sex with my ex. Back then I did not know that throughout the sexual activity, he recorded me secretly with a hidden smartphone. The next day, he threatened me to spread the video because I wanted to break up with him. Only then I realized that he had been recording the sexual act. He also threatened to spread the video to my family. After a while, he started to stalk me as well, he made me feel very uneasy.”

Partner S and partner AS reacted differently on what they had gone through. Partner S immediately knew that she was victim of OGBV as she was familiar with the issue because she had participated in several activities relating to the Elimination of Sexual Violence Bill and also had read stories of other victims revealing their experiences using thread feature on Twitter, as she stated below:

“Saat mengalami kejadiannya, uda tau kalo aku jadi korban KBGO karena sebelum-sebelumnya emang beberapa kali sempet ikut kegiatan yang ngebahas tentang RUU PKS dan sempet ada baca di Twitter yang pernah ngalamin hal serupa. Saat tau diperlakukan kayak gitu, aku jadi paham kalo aku emang gabisa sendirian dan butuh orang lain juga.”

“When I experienced the incident, I already knew that I was a victim of OGBV because before I participated in events that discussed Elimination of Sexual Violence Bill and I also read on Twitter regarding people that experienced something similar. When I knew I was treated like that, I understood that I should not be on my own and needed help from others.”

On the other hand, Partner AS did not realize that what she had experienced, including the threats, are a form of sexual violence, as stated below:

“Belum tau Kak kalo pada saat itu aku sedang mengalami kekerasan seksual dan justru baru tau akhir-akhir ini juga kalo ini termasuk revenge porn.”

“I didn’t know then that what I was experiencing was sexual harassment and I only found out recently that this is called revenge porn.”

Both experienced the same practice of OGBV in the form of sextortion, which is a form of sexual exploitation carried out by the perpetrators by making use of their power in their relationships to obtain sexual transactions, pictures, or videos from the victims (Ellen Kusuma and Justitia Avila Veda of SAFEnet 2020, 7). Both partners were threatened by their ex-boyfriends with the distribution of their intimate videos to force them to do things they did not want. In the case of Partner AS, the perpetrator demanded additional non-consensual production of sexual content and he started stalking her, so that she experienced a series of sextortion practices and violations of privacy (Ellen Kusuma and Justitia Avila Veda of SAFEnet 2020, 8).

The two partners both decided to report to LBH APIK because of their closest relatives’ assistance in order to get their legal protection. Unlike the previous two cases involving public figures, there were no criminal charges brought to the victims. The partners themselves also chose not to report the sexual violence and for various reasons opted for a mediation process. Partner S stated that the perpetrator only voiced threats and had not yet spread the content; or from Partner AS’ consideration who had removed the relevant evidence so that it will be difficult to report to law enforcement officers. The mediation route is considered by the partners the best legal option as they do not have to go through a long and complicated process following reporting the sexual violence to the police. Such mediation process starts with the preparation and delivery of a subpoena letter to the perpetrator, which will be followed by mediation to produce an agreement between the victim and the perpetrator (Surat Kesepakatan Bersama/ SKB) regarding future actions (at the time of the interview, the perpetrators had not signed the proposed SKB). LBH APIK continues to be involved as their legal representative as there is the real possibility of future threats. With the presence of a signed SKB, the partners as the victims hope to be able to prevent further OGBV and can defend themselves in front of the law if something undesirable happens in the future.

In addition to legal assistance, partners also received psychological assistance. This is a crucial need that is sometimes overlooked in Indonesia. OGBV victims that decide to report to the authorities or even to a Civil Society Organization (CSO) often are afraid and anxious of what the perpetrators might do when they find out. It is likely as a majority of perpetrators of OGBV are among the victim’s closest circle, such as friends, boyfriends or girlfriends, or their exes. Victims will experience mixed feelings when reporting them as they may still have affectionate feelings for the persons who practiced OGBV against them. Such mixed feelings were experienced by Partner S and Partner AS. Nonetheless, the two partners expressed their hopes that the state provides legal protection for women OGBV victims, and the socialization regarding the existence of LBH APIK and other CSO’s where victims are able to seek legal protection and encouragement. They hope that in the future OGBV victims in Indonesia can be more vocal about their experiences, to seek help, and not being blamed and blaming themselves for becoming a victim of sextortion practices.

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