Thursday, January 21, 2010

Sharia police arrested for ‘rape’ - by Chibogu Obinwa

It is not new that the greatest form of violation of women’s human rights is through the control, subjugation, and total disregard of their sexuality. Women are vulnerable to sexual violence both in their private spaces and public –and worse still when the latter occurs within the ‘space’ that should be the safest for women to seek protection ‘Police Station’! On a daily basis we hear stories of Law Enforcement personnel raping women and girls whom have been placed under their protection. This was the case in Langsa Sharia Police Station, Banda Aceh, Jarkata, Indonesia where Police in the regency arrested two Sharia Police Officers, (also known as Wilayatul Hisbah), for reportedly raping a female detainee at the Langsa Sharia Police Station. According to the Police Chief, the woman was gang-raped by the three Sharia policemen during her interrogation. Now hear the irony: the victim cum survivor of the Police rape, who was a University student, was being interrogated for allegedly violating the 2003 Sharia Public Indecency Bylaw. For how long will women endure the pains of being violated by the same state agents responsible for their protection? How many more of these cases happening within Police cells are lurking in the dark, unknown to us, and how many of these perpetrators will be brought to justice and hopefully serve as deterrent for more? How long will women continue to be at the receiving need?These questions need urgent answers!