Women and children in Indonesia are vulnerable to violence. Indonesia is among the ten countries that are not safe for women and children. According to surveys by Thomson Reuters Foundation in 2018 Indonesia ranked second after India in Asia Pacific.
The lack of response to the immediate nature of violence against women and children and the lack of society participation in the case that is still considered a taboo became the reason.
Due to these problems, an application, Wonder, was launched at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Grha Sabha Pramana hall on Friday (13/12). Rector of UGM, Prof. Ir. Panut Mulyono, M.Eng., D.Eng., IPU, ASEAN Eng, Expert Staff to Social Affairs Ministry, Harry Z. Soeratin, Deputy Minister of Culture, Indra Gunawan, SKM., MA., and activists attended the launching.
“We would try our best to prevent those cases from happening repetitiously. Currently, UGM is deliberating a regulation on mitigation of sexual abuse, hopefully we could issue the regulation soon,” he said.
UGM, according to the Rector, now applies Ethics Management and Integrity Strengthening that asks all academic community of UGM to strengthen ethics, particularly related to women. He agreed that quick response is required to protect women and children from abuse. Thus, the use of information technology will be beneficial.
“I hope the Wonder application will be beneficial and will reduce the cases of abuse against women and children,” he said.
Indra Gunawan viewed that Wonder is a great application for women and children in Indonesia. It will help them take action when an abuse is about to happen. He saw that the app is useful during disasters, too.
Wonder is developed by Yayasan Sebar Inspirasi Indonesia (YSII) with the support from Australia lndonesia Partnership for Justice 2 (AIPJ 2), Komnas Perempuan, and UGM.
This is aimed for the general public and registered volunteers. In emergencies, victims of abuse can use it to get help from the volunteers more easily. The volunteers have previously been verified and trained by partner agency, Wonder Indonesia.
In emergency, the victim can click the save button in the app. If possible, they can add additional messages. The volunteers in the distance of 3 km, 5 km, and 10 km from the location will get a notification. A map will be given to guide the volunteers to the victim.
There are three features in the app. First is emergency service, given to victims that need immediate rescue or evacuation, second, shelters given to the victim in distress and need shelters, third, assistance or services to the victim for mediation process or legal process.
“This app will enable the people in times of emergency to reach to the volunteers who are registered and have basic skills related to the reported cases,” said Executive Director of YSII, Atika.
Atika added each of the volunteers ought to be affiliated to a registered voluntary organisation in Yogyakarta. Currently, around 40 organisations in the city have become partners of the service.