Dewi Anggraeni*

Why write a book about something that happened 15 years ago?" friends asked when I began research about the May 1998 tragedy which gave birth to Indonesia's National Commission on Violence against Women.

The answer: many reasons, and they were accumulative.

When news about the May riots broke, I called friends and colleagues in Jakarta, one after another, because I needed to confirm that the previous friend was telling me the tru