Women and violence are too often words that come together in one sentence today. How so? In 2019, 406,178 cases of violence against women were recorded in Indonesia according the National Commission for Women’s annual report. This is a significant increase in comparison to the previous year’s recorded total of 348,466 case.
“We were shocked by the fact that cases of violence in the domestic sphere have increased, with physical violence the most dominant form of abuse,” stated Deputy Head of the National Commission for Women, Yuniyati Chuzaifah.
Many different types of support are required when dealing with cases of violence against women including psychological, legal, social and not forgetting financial support.
In order to increase the minimal financial support available to women victims of violence, Indonesia for Humanity (IKa) works in partnership with the National Commission for Women and commercial online platform Blibli.com to hold a Give Back Sale as a means to raise funding through the sale of pre-loved goods which was held at Ke:Kini, a co-working space located at 45 Cikini Raya Street, Central Jakarta, on 4-7 December 2019.
The Give Back Sale raised a total of 73,391,250 rupiah through the sale of goods donated by 134 donor and purchased by 342 shoppers from a variety of backgrounds. In parallel with the Give Back Sale, a series of events was held including film-screening and discussions, tarot card readings, healing therapy sessions, Purple Yoga for Women, musical performances, the launch of the EmpujalinkarsA Fashion line and beauty classes in partnership with Mustika Ratu. Refreshments were provided by the Sondang Coffee House Roastery. A percentage of their profits for the day were donated to Pundi Perempuan.
Increased participation in the 2019 Give Back Sale from a diversity of people and organizations shows that progress is being made in the effort to provide support to women victims of violence in Indonesia. The increased participation is evidenced by the number of organizations involved in the 2019 Give Back Sale in comparison to previous years.
Income from the sale will be used to support women victims of violence via service provider organizations, women’s crisis centers and human rights defenders via the Pundi Perempuan program which is managed by IKa.Pundi Perempuan grants are intended for groups and communities that do not have routine access to resources but which have the potential to grow. Communities are selected in partnership with the National Commission for Women that initiated the establishment of Pundi Perempuan. Resources, particularly grants, networks and knowledge are shared in order to empower small groups so that they can increase their service provision and go on to receive further funding and work in a more transparent and structure way towards eradicating violence against women.