Week Five: Heat Waves, Croatian Islands, and the Indonesian Penal Code
Hi everyone! We’ve hit the halfway point of the summer!
I only have three days of work to report on, since I took a few days off and traveled to Croatia at the end of the week. It was a very meetings-heavy couple of days. We have a lot going on at IBJ, and everyone is working on different things, so one of those was to make sure we have a good idea as to who was working on what and when our due dates are. Assignments were shifted a bit based on priority as well.
I finally finished my initial drafts for the Global Partnership Council. It took a long time to look through IBJ’s reports to figure out what a measurable goal is for the initiative.
I also received a new assignment. I will be researching the laws in Indonesia that disproportionately affect women and are used specifically to target them. I will specifically look at a new law called the Electronic Information and Transactions Act, as well as the revised Penal Code. I will then be writing a document called an "Advisement of Rights," which will be published online and used in future training events in our Indonesia country programs.
From my initial research, Indonesia has not so far complied with its international human rights obligations with regard to women. Adultery is a crime punishable by prison time, and now consensual sex between unmarried people is illegal as well. In some provinces, actual lashings with a cane are prescribed as punishments. Right now, an “aggrieved” spouse is the one who can file charges with the police department against his wife. In the case of rape, unless a woman is underage and can prove some injury due to resistance, she can be charged with adultery.
Outside of work this week:
- The lack of central AC in Europe truly made itself known last week. Not sure if I’ve discussed the fountains yet, but there are fountains all over the city. They’re often really intricate: think stone-carved lion’s heads spouting water vibes. I have never tasted better water than water from one of these fountains in Geneva. All this to say, there were several trips down to the fountain on the corner of our street to help us cope with the heat, because the water is always (blessedly) cold.
- We went to Croatia! It’s been on my bucket list since I learned that most of the scenes from one of my favorite movies (Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again) were filmed on the islands off the coast. I got 9 other interns on board, and we got on a 6 am flight to Split, Croatia on Thursday morning. We walked around Old Town Split in 95-degree heat, climbed the bell tower, and then hopped on a ferry.
- We spent the next two days on an island called Vis! It was, I think, the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. There were flowers all over the buildings, which are built right on the water (which is crystal clear and turquoise and incredible). We went to a beach in town and stayed there literally all day the first full day there.
- On day 2 we rented a car and drove to Stiniva Beach, it was kind of a steep hike down, but incredibly worth it. We also visited the Komiza, the town on the other side of the island, as the sun was setting. The roads on the island were mostly along cliffs and through olive groves, and the view of the Adriatic Sea went on until the earth curved.
