Slutwalk

September 19, 2011 

Scores of women and children wearing colorful miniskirts and tight leggings gathered in central Jakarta on Sunday, outraged by a public official’s comments that provocatively dressed women are to blame for sexual assaults.

The protest was in response to remarks by the Indonesian capital city’s governor Fauzi Bowo, who said on Friday that women must not wear revealing clothes to avoid being raped or victimized.

He quickly apologized, but his comments were publicized widely via local media and Twitter.

The rally called on police and the Indonesian government to do more to protect women and help the victims of sexual assault.

Women carried placards saying “Don’t tell us how to dress, tell them not to rape,” and “My body is not porn, instead it’s your dirty mind.”

INDONESIAN lawmakers are drafting rules banning female MPs from wearing "provocative" clothing which they claim invite rape. 

Women's rights groups said they were outraged by the comments and called for a stop to the demonisation of rape victims. 

"We know there have been a lot of rape cases and other immoral acts recently, and this is because women aren't wearing appropriate clothes," said house of representatives speaker Marzuki Alie. 

"Women wearing inappropriate clothes arouse men, so it needs to be stopped. You know what men are like -provocative clothing will make them do things." 

Refrizal, the deputy head of the household affairs committee, which is spearheading the new regulation, said that "miniskirts and skimpy clothes are an invitation to male lawmakers". 

The move was also backed by two female house members who formerly worked as fashion models, local media reported. 

"It's ridiculous that this is again coming from the mouths of prominent people with influence," said Action for Women Against Rape founder Chika Noya. 

"We expect them to make regulations to protect women from violence, not condemn them for the way they dress." 

The comments come just six months after the Jakarta governor, Fauzi "Foke" Bowo, made similar remarks, saying that a spate of rape cases on the city's public minibuses were triggered by victims' miniskirts. 

He urged Indonesian women to refrain from wearing miniskirts on public transport. 

His remarks prompted a protest in which women yelled the slogan "My miniskirt, my right. Foke you", referring to the governor's nickname. 

The protest was inspired by the global "SlutWalk" phenomenon, which began in Toronto last year as hundreds protested about a comment made by a police constable that "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimised".