JAKARTA, Indonesia — After 11 years of an emotionally and physically abusive marriage, Rani Miranti turned to martial arts training and joined a fight club that helped her stand up to violence.
Miranti is one of a growing number of Indonesian women taking self-defence classes, as gender-based violence remains a challenge in the world’s most populous, Muslim-majority country.
“Government protection usually comes after violence has occurred, but you never know when it’s going to happen,” said the 38-year-old single mother of three. “Unfortunately, when it suddenly happens, no one can help you. That’s why you need the ability to defend yourself.”
The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) said 289,111 cases of sexual violence were recorded last year, down about 12% from the 339,782 cases in 2022, the year the law on sexual violence was enacted.
But the commission suggested the latest data was just the “tip of the iceberg” on gender-based violence, saying the actual number was likely much higher in the Komnas Perempuan annual report for 2023, released in March.
The report said a number of factors contributed to the large number of cases going unreported, including limited access for victims to complaint services, weak case recording systems and high levels of societal stigma against victims of violence.
Indonesia’s parliament in 2022 approved a wide-ranging law that establishes criminal penalties for sexual violence and guarantees compensation, reparations and other remedies for victims and survivors.
The law was passed one week after Indonesia’s High Court sentenced the head of an Islamic boarding school to death for raping at least 13 students over a five-year period, impregnating some of them. The girls were between 11 and 14 years old and were raped over several years, sparking a public outcry as to why he had not been arrested sooner.
Indonesia’s election commission in July removed its chairman after finding him guilty of sexual assault following a complaint from an official, the latest in a series of high-profile cases of violence against women in the vast archipelago nation of more than 277 million people.
As incidents rise, Indonesian women and girls fearing physical violence have turned to alternative means to stay safe, such as self-defence classes and clubs.
For Miranti, who has been repeatedly attacked and physically abused by her husband, Muay Thai is the most suitable form of self-defence as it helps her gain more skills, confidence and prevention techniques.
Clad in a red hijab and boxing gloves, the Jakarta Islamic primary school teacher demonstrated skills hitting a heavy bag and kicking at a sparring partner as part of training at a mixed martial arts course in East Jakarta that she enrolled in about two years ago after deciding to leave an abusive marriage in 2018.
Muay Thai is a type of kickboxing that originated in Thailand and involves knee and elbow strikes, kicks and punches.
“Now I have the methods. … I have the skills to fight back,” Miranti said, “but more importantly, I’ve learned to avoid situations by being more aware of my surroundings.”
Miranti female coach Rahimatul Hasana said she is overwhelmed by the growing demand from women wanting to learn the martial arts, especially in private training, as female Muay Thai instructors are hard to find.
“Many people feel uncomfortable being taught by a male instructor or need private lessons in their own home,” she added.
Most of the women who attend her self-defence classes are shy, and some have been abused in the past.
“Learning physical self-defense not only gives you the tools to control your reactions to negative situations, it also builds your confidence in mental defense,” Hasana said.
Her husband, professional mixed martial artist Rizal Zurmi, said the growing trend of women learning martial arts shows abusers and predators that “not all women are easy prey.”
The two martial arts coaches opened BKT Fight Club three years ago with about 40 students.
“Martial arts have become popular among women recently,” said Zurmi, who has won at least 30 medals at regional, national and international levels. “With crimes against women rampant, women need this type of martial art for self-defence.”
Rangi Virantika Sudrajat, an Indonesian woman who took the mixed martial arts classes, said that the physical training she receives is what best helps her in her job as a general practitioner with Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
The 31-year-old doctor, who has deployed to refugee camps in Pakistan, Yemen, South Sudan, Bangladesh and Sierra Leone, said martial arts not only boosted her self-confidence and physical fitness but also helped her manage stress.
“Through Muay Thai, I’m able to release pent up emotions, anger and sadness in a healthy way,” she said.
Andi Yentliyani, chairman of the National Commission on Violence Against Women, welcomed the phenomenon of more women taking part in self-defence classes.
“Of course, this is very important because sometimes there are many victims who are so shocked that they don’t have any reaction to what happened to them,” Yentliyani says, “and by the time they realize it, it may be too late or it may be a very long process.”
The types of violence recorded in private spaces included attempted rape, marital rape, forced abortion and incest. The majority of the victims were students aged 18-24, and the majority of the reported perpetrators were former or current male partners.
Nearly all of the victims were younger and less educated than their perpetrators, suggesting that violence against women often involves a power imbalance, Yentryani said.
She said more people reported sexual harassment in 2023, a year after the Sexual Violence Law came into force, with her committee receiving around 800 reports of online and physical sexual harassment last year, nearly four times the 200 reports of rape cases it received in the same period.
“In our society, many still consider cases of sexual violence to be stigmatizing and embarrassing for female victims,” Yentryani said, and many families choose not to report them. “Situations of silencing victims, including in cases of wife violence, are still common.”
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This story corrects Rahimatul Hasanah’s first name: Rahimatul, not Himattul.
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Achmad Ibrahim, Andi Jatmiko and Fadlan Syam contributed to this report.
