Men in Indonesia are wearing skirts to protest violence against women

In 2013, a United Nations study in Asia showed nearly half of the men surveyed had used sexual or physical violence against a female partner. A quarter had raped a woman or a girl.

A culture of sexual violence has been prevalent in a number of these countries, including Indonesia, where a campaign to eliminate violence against women has sprung up.

Aliansi Laki-laki Baru, translated to the 'New Men's Alliance' , has stated their aims are to challenge a deep-rooted issue in Indonesia's society - that 85 per cent of Indonesian women who have suffered violence at the hands of their partners remain in the relationship.

The founder, Syaldi Sahude, 37, told Reuters:

Many Indonesian men still think women have no rights to tell them this or that, that women are inferior to men.

There were women’s empowerment, legal aid and trauma programmes for survivors but the root cause of this is men.

To combat this perception, the group stage online campaigns, public rallies and host discussions and counselling services for men, challenging misconceptions of masculinity.

A 2011 protest denouncing Indonesian Governor Fauzi Bowo who blamed a recent gang rape on the victim's choice of clothing. (Picture: ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images)

After a senior government official suggested that women should not wear short skirts on public transport to avoid being raped, in 2011, the men in the group donned miniskirts in protest, joining many women also protesting the statements.

Sahude said:

Too often it's about the way women dress or the way they behave. So we thought if it's really about mini-skirts, how about men wearing them?

Risya Kori, a gender equality expert from the Indonesian office of the UN population fund, says involving men in the discussion of violence against womens would have "positive effects".

Picture: ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images

In 2015, there were 321,752 cases of domestic violence or sexual assuaults in the country, up from 105,103 in 2010.

More: This utterly beautiful photo series is taking a stand against sexual assault and rape culture