BWCC

The Bali Women Crisis Centre Legal Aid Institute (LBH BWCC) inaugurated two Legal Aid Service Stations, located in Taksu Kintamani Traditional Market (above photo) and Gunung Agung Denpasar Traditional Market, Monday (15/4/2024) (Source: BB/215/Rian)

Denpasar, Barometer Bali – Legal Aid Service Stations of The Bali Women Crisis Centre Legal Aid Institute (LBH BWCC), inaugurated to expand legal services and access to justice for the community, especially for women and children experiencing violence cases. The first station is located in the Bangli District, situated at Taksu Penelokan Traditional Market, Kedisan Village, Kintamani, this station was inaugurated on April 6, 2024. Meanwhile, the second station is located in Denpasar City, situated at Gunung Agung Traditional Market, Pemecutan Kaja, North Denpasar, which was also inaugurated on April 12, 2024.

The establishment of these two legal aid service stations are under the Program of Access to Justice Expansion and Legal Assistance for the Community and Victims of Violence conducted by LBH BWCC. This program is supported by The Fund for Global Human Rights from the United Kingdom under the Legal Empowerment Fund (LEF) program. The program generally aims to improve access to legal services for the community and victims of violence in Bali by increasing the number of paralegals and establishing grassroots-level legal aid service stations.

The vision and mission of The Fund for Global Human Rights are to address and reduce global justice disparities. Program implementations in Indonesia, specifically in Bali Province, are expected to support legal and human rights organizations in the long run. The expected impact is increased advocacy for legal protection and efforts to address systemic injustices for the community and victims of violence in fulfilling their rights to legal services and justice.

“Specifically, the establishment of two Legal Aid Service Stations in two locations, namely in Taksu Kintamani Traditional Market and Gunung Agung Traditional Market, is our effort to expand legal service and assistance access, especially for violence victims, to be more easily accessible by the community at the grassroots level,” said Ni Nengah Budawati, Director of LBH BWCC.

The Bali Women Crisis Centre Legal Aid Institute (LBH BWCC) inaugurated the Legal Aid Service Station at Gunung Agung Traditional Market (Source: BB/215/Rian)

The LBH BWCC Legal Aid Service Stations focus on activities such as receiving reports of violence cases, legal consultations and education, assistance for violence victims, especially women and children, and services for the general public facing legal cases.

“The services available at these posts are expected to be utilized by the community, especially when they are aware of and experience violence cases so that we can immediately follow up on handling and assisting the occurring violence cases,” explained Ni Nengah Budawati.

According to data from the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (KPPPA, 2023), at least 1 in 4 women in Indonesia has experienced violence in their lifetime, and 4 out of 10 children have experienced various forms of violence.

Types of violence against women and children include physical violence, sexual violence, psychological/psychological violence, neglect, exploitation, and other violence (bullying, online gender-based violence, etc.).

In addition to establishing two Legal Aid Service Stations, in 2023, LBH BWCC conducted recruitment and training activities for 60 paralegals as one of the main outputs of the program. These paralegals under the coordination of LBH BWCC actively assist the institution in conducting various legal education and assistance activities in the community, including activities at two stations to help provide legal aid services to the community.

“By becoming LBH BWCC paralegals, I can directly involve through the established stations to help violence victims and the community with legal cases. I hope with the presence of these stations, community issues can be immediately addressed, and the community can be more courageous in making complaints or reports of violence cases,” said Ni Wayan Deli Ekayanti, one of the paralegals who has been trained by LBH BWCC under the Program of Access to Justice Expansion and Legal Assistance for the Community and Victims of Violence.

Report from The Fund for Global Human Rights shows that around two-thirds of the global population or 5.1 billion people do not have access to justice in the legal system, and when their rights are violated, they often do not have access to assistance.

The global picture is that about 235 million people still live in extreme injustice, 1.5 billion people still have unresolved justice issues, and 4.5 billion people are still excluded from opportunities provided by legal rights fulfillment.

The issue of injustice and legal disparities remains a separate problem, especially in the law enforcement process and the fulfillment of victims' rights in Indonesia.