Indonesia: New campaign to address violence against women

‘Stoning’ as a punishment under Syariah Law does not exist in Indonesia. However, researchers in Makassar have encountered a case of a local / regional regulation proscribing whipping as a punishment under Syariah law. This regulation is one of the concrete manifestations of the influence of Islamic fundamentalist forces.

Focussing on the Indonesian context, an Advocacy Campaign under the broad title of “Stop Regional Policies that Discriminate and Criminalise Women” was launched as part of A Public Dialogue on “Movements for Women’s Empowerment in Muslim Contexts: Opportunities and Challenges in Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan and China, Organised by the Research Programme Consortium on ‘Women’s Empowerment in Muslim Context: Gender, Poverty and Democratisation from the Inside Out’ (WEMC),in collaboration with Komnas Perempuan (National Commission on Violence Against Women), on 28 April 2008, at Hotel Sahid, Jakarta.

Our contention is that the regional policy in Bulukumba, South Sulawesi contradicts the National Legislation [National Act number 10/2004], since the regional policy in Bulukumba doesn’t involve women and the content of the policy also hinders women from their rights.

This Campaign will basically focus on advocating for women’s access to and exercise of social and political rights, as illustrated by the following:

1. The regional policy that dictates the obligation for Moslem women to wear the jilbab becomes an obstruction for women to exercise their civil and citizenship rights. The policy states that only Moslem women wearing a jilbab is permitted to enter the Government Administration Offices regarding matters related to their civil rights [such as identity card making, etc]. Those who are not wearing a jilbab will not be attended to.

2. Women are generally not involved in / do not participate in the processes of policy making at the regional level. This is a very important issue since the content of policies as well as its implementation impacts greatly on women’s lives. The campaign will work for the participation of grassroots women in the regional and local policy making mechanisms/processes.

Activities:

SP will undertake activities at meso and micro level in Bulukumba, South Sulawesi. We have made two clusters based on the objectives.

a. To encourage women to get knowledge and undertake action to assert their rights, we will organize village discussions, trainings on feminism and leadership for grassroots women.

b. To advocate for woman get access and control in policy making, we will dialogue with government, we will disseminate the information through radio talk shows, press releases, workshops, maintain networking, and also disseminate to various stakeholders in the community.

To date, we have already held a successful dialogue with the governor of South Sulawesi on the issue of policy- making mechanism that does not give space for women’s involvement. We referred to National Act number 10/2004, which states that the mechanisms of policy-making in the regions should involve all stakeholders, including women. These mechanisms should be legally integrated into the regulations of the Internal Affairs Ministry and should be monitored as to their implementation at the local level.

We have established networking with NGOs in the local district of Bulukumba and province level of South Sulawesi, such as: We have established networking with NGOs in the local district of Bulukumba and province level of South Sulawesi, such as:

Local Organizations in Bulukumba:

1. Kolisi Perempuan Indonesia Cabang Bulukumba (KPI)
(Coalition of Indonesian Women – Bulukumba Branch)

2. Yayasan Pendidikan rakyat
(Foundation for People’s Education)

Organizations at provincial level :

1. Forum Pemerhati Masalah Perempuan Sulawesi Selatan (FPMP-SS)
(The forum of Observers of Women’s problem in South Sulawasi)

2. Lembaga Perlindungan Anak (LPA)
(Organization for Children Protection)

3. Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Asosiasi Perempuan Indonesia untuk Keadilan (LBH APIK Makassar)
(Legal Assistance Association for Women in Indonesia for Justrice)

4. Lembaga Advokasi dan Pendidikan anak Rakyat (LAPAR)
(Organization for Advocacy and Education for the People’s Children)

5. Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Makassar
(Makassar Legal Assistance Organization)

6. Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Makassar
(Makassar Legal Assistance Organization Foundation )

7. Yayasan Mitra bersama (Yasmib)
(Joint Partners’ Foundation)

We have also established good relationships with the Governor of South Sulawesi, Law Bureau ,KAPP, District Government, Head village of Padang, BPD (Village Representative Body). We will continue to share with them our research findings which could be used for carrying out advocacy against Regional Regulations (Perdes) that was discriminatory towards women, particularly the local regulation proscribing whipping as a punishment under Syariah law in the Bulukumba Village in Padang.

The national Secretariat of SP will support the work in meso and micro level by making a position paper and publicizing the campaign at National and international levels. We have already held a National Workshop, where a woman from Bulukumba, a victim of the regional policy, gave her testimony. We have discussed this issue together with National Commission On Violence Against Women.

The most recent success is the Public Dialogue and mass action which we organized in Makassar on March 8, International Women’s Day. There the Governor of South Sulawesi proclaimed in public and in front of the local and national media, that discriminatory laws against women are against the National Constitution of Indonesia and should be abolished.

Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women! Sister Campaign in Indonesia:

Stop Regional Policies that Discriminate and Criminalise Women

Coordinator: Solidaritas Perempuan* (SP)

Contact details:
Tel: (+621) 7802529, fax: (+621) 7826008
Email: soliper@centrin.net.id

*Solidaritas Perumpuan is an organization concerning women’s rights and empowerment (in the Muslim contexts). It has carried out research on the fundamentalists’ movements for subsuming Syariah Law in the National and local policies and regulations which discriminates against women, and on it’s impacts on women living under these laws. We aim to give information to the wider community, especially in South Sulawesi about the situation of women living under the regional Syariah regulations. We will publish our research findings as well as disseminate information through organizing discussions and keeping up dialogues with various stakeholders. We will strengthen our network with local NGOs so as to build up our strength in advocacy against criminalization and inhuman punishment of women.