Yogyakarta, 3 March 2023 – The Master of Human Rights and Democratization (MHRD) Program held a field lecture to dr. Soerojo Mental Hospital and the Sahabat Perempuan NGO. This field lecture aimed to reflect on the implementation of human rights principles. Tapiheru Joash, as the program coordinator and lecturer at the Department of Politics and Government, accompanied six students from several countries in Asia and Europe.
The field lecture begun with the visit to dr. Soerojo Mental Hospital by discussing the profile of the hospital and types of services at this hospital. Established since 1916, dr. Soerojo Mental Hospital has two service categories, mental and non-mental. Mental services are supported by facilities that are customized according to the needs of the patients. The example the mental facility is the Arimbi Ward which has a “calm down” program to teach patient how to calm themselves during a panic attack. Meanwhile, non-psychiatric services focus on providing general health services for patients. Students also had opportunity to see the handmade crafts made by the patients in the rehabilitation ward. Some of the handmade crafts were t-shirts, accessories, shopping bags, and pencil boxes.
The next visit was Sahabat Perempuan that students discussed about the of role and advocacy strategy of Sahabat Perempuan on the issue of sexual violence against women and children. The discussion which lasted for two hours explained the strategies of Sahabat Perempuan to advocate the needs of victims of sexual violence in Magelang Regency, so they received the attention from local government. Sahabat Perempuan also monitors the legal process for the perpetrators, starting from the beginning until the decision of the legal process was received.
However, Sahabat Perempuan also encounters challenges in carrying out its role. There are still attempts of victim blaming and “reconciliation” that are not in favor of the victim to stop the legal process. This field lecture activity ended with reflection from students and continued with visits to local Small and Medium Enterprise (SME).