Indonesia Women: Caught Between Military and Religious Conservatisms

Posted by AsiaViews | Nov 21, 2019 | 0 |

Recently, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was reelected for a second presidential term from 2019-2024. Three days after his inauguration on Oct. 20, he announced his new cabinet.

The gender imbalance was striking. With five women ministers out of a total of 34, they make up a mere 15 percent of cabinet members – an almost 50 percent decrease from the previous nine out of 34.

It wasn’t just about numbers; it was also about their qualifications. Not of the three who had served previously: Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi, and Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar, but of the two others: Gusti Ayu Bintang Darmawati, women’s empowerment and child protection minister (KPPPA) and Ida Fauziyah, Manpower Minister.

Both were political appointees with no previous experience related to their new ministerial posts. Fauziyah is a veteran lawmaker from the National Awakening Party (PKB) while Bintang is a member of the Democratic Party for Struggle (PDIP).

Bintang’s appointment especially, was met with raised eyebrows by women activists. She had merely been the Dharma Wanita wife of Anak Agung Gede Ngurah Puspayoga, former cooperatives minister during President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s first term (2014-2019).

Founded in 1974, Dharma Wanita, the civil servants’ wives association, is modeled after the military wives association where they obtain their organizational position based on that of the husband. Unsurprisingly, Dharma Wanita is still considered patriarchal and retain their image of the domestication and depoliticization of women.

The ideology espoused by Dharma Wanita is one that I named “State Ibuism” (State Motherism) which makes dependency an ideal. Women exist to serve the husband, the family and the state. In Suharto’s New Order (1966-1998), Dharma Wanita dominated the scene and effectively emasculated (sic!) the women’s movement in Indonesia.

Bintang’s appointment certainly smacked of the militaristic New Order State Ibuism style. And she’s supposed to head the ministry of women’s empowerment?

It doesn’t help that under Yohana Yembise, the previous minister, the KPPPA had deviated from its original mandate to implement the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), empower women and fulfill their rights. Instead, she had focused more on children and family issues. Bintang has to take a really intensive crash course on gender if she wants to bring the ministry back on track.

So far, Bintang has stated that the draft law on the elimination of sexual violence (RUU PKS) will be given priority. It is indeed a pressing issue as a recent survey conducted by a feminist coalition revealed that “three out of five women have experienced … one form of sexual harassment …[and that] … 16 percent of women experienced at least one type of domestic violence”.

The sexual violence bill has been deliberated since 2014 and faces resistance from conservative groups who claim it would encourage pre- and extra-marital sex, which includes LBGT sex. This attitude is symptomatic of the growing Islamic conservatism and radicalism in Indonesia.

According to Dian Kartika, secretary-general of the Coalition of Indonesian Women for Justice and Democracy (KPIKD), the biggest and most obvious challenge for women is religious intolerance and radicalism. Like the military gender ideology, conservative Islam wants to domesticate and subordinate women. In addition, the latter promotes polygamy as a means to “strengthen” the family. They don’t just engage in the discourse, they also lobby the government and parliament, and even know how to use the mechanism of judicial review to try to change laws they consider “unislamic”.

Dian feels that neither KPPPA nor Komnas Perempuan see radicalism as a serious threat, let alone try to connect it to their respective mandates. Universities, schools, government institutions and even the police and military, have been infiltrated by radical Islam. Women’s groups and organizations are an obvious target.

In May last year in Surabaya, three suicide bombers, mothers with children, carried out a suicide bomb attack on a church. Imagine mothers who are meant to be nurturing, becoming killing machines, producing children only to then sacrifice them to strengthen their “army of jihad”. Horrific or what?

Dian asked, “Why do the KPPPA and Komnas Perempuan not use this “trend” as a sign to reevaluate their strategy and struggle?”

If only it were that easy. Even if the KPPPA and Komnas Perempuan could do that, to make their efforts sustainable, it requires a clear vision, strong political will, and an agreed path for Indonesia. Instead we have a splintered nation, tribalism, rampant corruption and a slew of politicians and political parties who care more about their own interests than that of the collective good.

Good luck women! Now is really a time to consolidate our movement!

Julia Suryakusuma

Columnist and Author of Julia’s Jihad

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

Indonesia Women: Caught Between Military and Religious Conservatisms