Thank you Madam Chair, my name is Ms. Andy YENTRIYANI and Iám speaking on behalf of the
Indonesian National Commission on Violence against Women, a specialised national human rights
institution focusing on the elimination of all forms of violence against women.
First of all we would like to express our appreicate to the forum organisers for the draft
recommendations which are extensive and provide and invaluable tool for the advancement of minority
rights, however we would like to encourage the forum to take into consideration the need to reaffirm our
commitment to recongise and reflect the diverse experiences within minority groups including those of
minority women, in all measures taken to implement the declaration further to recommendation number
19. We strongly believe that due to their often invisibility which also emphasised by independent experts
andother in the previous sessions, there is a need to remind government and civil society to acknowledge
the presence of multiple discrimination and violence faced by particular groups amongst the broader
minority groups. This acknowlegement is important step in ensuring our government meet their existing
commitments to combat discrimination on all bases as agains women. As also shown in [...] from one's
report women and girls from inority groups are particularly disadvantaged, they are more likely to
become the target of gender based violence and discriminaiton in addition to enduring the gender specific
impacts of violation agains their community.
First and foremost, minority women face cultural norms that discriminate against them or deter them from
fully enjoying their right to participate in public life. Furthermore over the past few years, threats of rape
and various forms of sexual harrassment against women have been repeatedly reported to [...] in where
they have occurred in the context of attacks and acts of intolerance against religious minorities. Girls
from religious minorities living in IDP camps or other shelters, have been forced into early marriage
because of legal barriers, women from a number of religious minorities including local beliefs have not
been able to register their marriage and consequentially endure social discrimination because they are
considered to have children out of wedlock.
We therfore urge the forum to reflect its affirmation to this concern into the recommendation number 22,
that the government should also review and reform as appropriately any legislation or policy or practice
that are discriminatory or disproportionality negatively impact on certain minority groups given particular
regards to minority women. And also for the forum to adopt recommendation number 23 as here is
modified, that the governments would ensure that existing remedies are easily accessible and give special
attention to the vulnerability of women and other disproportionaltey affected groups within the minorities
and adequate penalities are applied in the event of violations.