Homepage for Women is a non-governmental organization that has concern for women's problems and natural resource management. The organization is domiciled in Jambi City with a working area coverage on the island of Sumatra.
Since 2011, Home of Women has been active in efforts to empower women and advocate for victims who have experienced violence and sexual harassment. The Women's Home is also present in responding to the negative impacts and disasters caused by natural resource-based extractive industry activities that tend to cause a loss of resources. community livelihood, environmental damage and the erosion of social and cultural values.
Various innovations in the battle over resource control often overlook the vital role of women as seed keepers as well as food producers, and even as the most persistent group in protecting the culture and identity of the community. This capital struggle has also caused women to be increasingly threatened, excluded and lose their independence in managing their livelihoods and has led to an increase in gender-based violence.
In this regard, Home of Women considers the need for concrete efforts in the form of community empowerment and advocacy for victims who experience gender-based violence. In addition, Homepage Women want to continue to be actively involved in efforts to fight for the recognition of community rights in the management of equitable and sustainable natural resources, the right to health and a safe environment and sustainable livelihoods.
Vision
The realization of a community that has a critical awareness to encourage the birth of public policies that are gender equitable and fully recognizes the rights of the community in sustainable natural resource management.
Mission
Increasing efforts to prevent and overcome all forms of violence against women.
Fighting for access and participation of communities and women in natural resource management.
Promote the knowledge and experience of communities and women in natural resource management based on local traditions and wisdom.
Program
Research and documentation
This program focuses on two main issues namely women and natural resources. On the issue of women, we will focus on case studies of gender based violence. And for the issue of natural resources, our research will focus on case studies — but not limited to socio-economic problems and women workers — that occur in extractive industry environments, including those based on natural resource conservation.
Home Women recognize that gender-based analysis will encourage the realization of justice and equality for women. To facilitate data needs in gender analysis, Home Women document women's issues and experiences in various places. This documentation will be presented in the form of reports and information sheets, which can be accessed through our website.
Campaign
This is an effort to increase public awareness and support in voicing the rights of communities and women. In addition, the campaign also aims to encourage the achievement of gender responsive and perspective policies, especially in the management of natural resources that are gender equitable and sustainable. To support the success of this program, Beranda Perempuan will collaborate with various stakeholders, and invite community leaders to be actively involved in criticizing the development planning process in their area.
We realize that networking is a supporting force in implementing organizational work, particularly in advocacy activities. For this reason, the Homepage of Women continues to build networks with local, regional, national and even international organizations that share a common vision so that it can help achieve the mission and success of the organization's programs.
Community Assistance
Is a capacity building activity for communities dealing directly with gender issues. Assistance aims to recognize and stimulate community courage in uncovering the causes that marginalize them. Activities in community assistance include the provision of knowledge and skills through education and training, critical dialogue and deliberation. These activities also became the main source of the idea of the Home Women campaign which as much as possible involved the community and women in the implementation process, from planning, making decisions, to organizing the program.
In this episode, Nadine Alexandra (actor, environmentalist) and Hannah Al Rashid (actor, SDG mover for gender equality) talk about their experiences of harassment at work, and why we need more women in high positions to fight for women's rights and gender equal policies to protect women for violence and harassment.
Please stay tuned for the next videos, during the entire 16 days of activism (25th november - 10th December) and let's come together to STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN!
This series was filmed and edited by students from SSR Jakarta.
On Saturday, over a thousand people gathered in Central Jakarta to march for equality. That morning, people came bearing colorful and clever signs, and many of them are responses to the proposed revision of the Indonesia's Criminal Code.
Several articles in the Criminal Code could potentially criminalize rape victims and the country's already repressed LGBT community. Fortunately, the controversial proposal failed to pass at the House of Representatives meeting last month. But still, the threat to freedom and equality of Indonesia's minority groups still looms. As a nationwide campaign, Women's March in Indonesia has eight main demands, including an end to discrimination that is based on gender, sexuality, and disability. The march was organized in 13 cities in Indonesia, from Jakarta to Sumba.
VICE went to the streets of Jakarta to find out the various reasons why people showed up to the march, and what can Indonesians do to achieve true equality.
Sianawati Sunarto (66) and Nina Hidayat (29)
VICE: Hi Sianawati, how does it feel to be a woman in Indonesia in 2018?
Sianawati: Since when I was young, there have been big changes. But the pressure is bigger, too. Now [women] realize that we can do more things we couldn't do before, but men aren’t exactly supportive of that because they feel threatened. They feel like their masculinity is attacked. But that’s not what we meant. I mean, we can just cooperate.
What about you, Nina? Nina: I am more privileged because I grew up in a family with a lot of "girl power." From my mother’s side of family, all of her siblings are women, and all of the are independent. I’ve seen those examples since I was a kid. So I knew that we could be whoever we want. At the workplace, because I work at an urban media company, the sexism isn’t very blatant. Unlike in the streets. Maybe because I’m of Chinese descent, I get catcalled a lot. I've been groped on the streets, too. And this is something I keep experiencing since I was a kid.
How do you think we should overcome it? The first time I overcame the issue was when I started to speak up about street harassment. When I was in university, there’s an NGO that visited my campus that asked us to tell our stories as women. It was the first time I talked about street harassment, and that’s what helped me recover from the trauma I experienced in the past 10 years.
Dea Satira (25)
VICE: Can you tell me about your outfit? What does it mean?
Dea: This is my way to say that feminism doesn’t come from the West, it’s been here since a long time ago. The values that put women as noble, as a leader, fighter, queen, have been here all along. So don’t say that feminism comes from the West. The term might be coined in the West, but the values are here. For example, the person who coined the slogan bhinneka tunggal ika, is a woman. Her name is Gayatri Rajapatni. If you dig deeper, what she talked about has to do with intersectional feminism, feminism that include all women from all backgrounds. So it’s been here all along.
Neno (29)
VICE: Hi Neno! What’s your take on the revised Criminal Code?
Neno: I want the Criminal Code to protect women. Because if you look at the draft, it’s obvious that it puts women in a vulnerable position. It encourages persecution. Let's take a victim of rape as an example. The victim carries a psychological burden, and if the law doesn’t help, the rapist could freely walk away. The law doesn’t protect victims of sexual assaults. For example, if someone is threatened, she reports it to the police. But then the police doesn’t take the report seriously. When in fact a threat of sexual assault is not very different from rape. So there has to be a more comprehensive law to protect women.
Sisi (32)
VICE: Hi, can you explain to me what you’d like to say with your sign?
Sisi: We want sex workers in Indonesia to be treated fairly, like the ones in United States, for example. In the US, sex workers are given the chance to get health screenings. Meanwhile here sex workers are seen as sinners. So their rights, especially when it comes to health, are overlooked… And the pimps are asshole. These pimps show up at villages, lend money to a girl’s parents and then in return the daughter has to work for it. The interest is big, so these girls have to work at hotels. They work hard, and after all the cuts they only bring home about Rp 50,000 [$3.63 USD]. We hope people will support the rights of our sex workers, to see their job as any other. They have the rights to be healthy. I hope we can create awareness by coming here.
Uti (31) and Dimmi (29)
VICE: I haven’t seen anyone getting specific about hijab issues until I see your sign. Can you elaborate?
Uti: People love to tell women how to dress. For example, people don’t tell men not to rape but they tell women how to dress, to cover up, to look modest. When in fact women should hold authority over their own bodies. They should be free to express what they want. So I think the state and people don’t have the right to regulate women’s bodies. And then people also like to differentiate those who wear hijab and those who don’t. What we wear is a part of our identity, but it’s not a tool to judge other people.
How do you explain your values and stance to your family? Uti: It's really hard. People believe that teaching your own family is the hardest. My approach to religion is to each their own. So I think when it comes to these issues, we should just explain to people, we don’t have to argue. Discussion is important and we don’t always have to agree in the end. But the point is not to understand each other, but more about accepting each other’s decision.
Noval (20) and Fajar (26)
VICE: Hi there! What's your sign about?
Fajar: The most important issue right now is the revised Criminal Code. It’s the most pressing issue for us. That’s the number one demand that we’re trying to get through from this march, because it involves everyone’s life. If it passes the law, everyone will definitely go to jail.
Noval: Especially for vulnerable people like us.
The members of the House of Representatives who discussed about the Criminal Code rarely invited the very groups they want to control, especially for the LGBT community. What’s your opinion on it? Fajar: I think it always happens in every government. For example, in the US, politicians who create laws that affect all women are men, and they're mostly white. We know how the government works, and I think it’s hard to change it. For me, this Women’s March shows that we as Indonesians should take real action if we want change.
Noval: The House of Representatives is no longer the people’s representatives.
If the revised Criminal Code is passed, what would you do?
Fajar: We're gonna keep on fighting. Maybe with a judicial review? There are ways to fight against it. The LGBT community in Indonesia is afraid about this Criminal Code, and some may flee to other countries. But how about those who can’t do that? What if they like living here? When the LGBT community fight for their rights, it’s not all about marriage. We just want to have the freedom to live.
Alce Makanuay (38)
VICE: What made you come here?
Alce: I work in a public health center in Jayapura. We take care of women and children who are victims of abuse. It’s kind of difficult for us because of the existing customs. When a woman marries, her family is given money by the man's parents. So the husband has full power on the wife. He can do whatever he wants to the woman.
Another problem is that women are economically dependent on men. So when a case of abuse is being processed by the police, they will cancel the report. They'll think, "What would happen to them if their husband is in jail? What will happen to the children?" Another reason why it's difficult to stop violence against women is that we think it’s a shame to talk about it. So women keep it to themselves and they reach out to others.
How bad is the violence against women and children in Jayapura?
Well, there is physical violence, but mostly it's verbal. People think that it’s normal, but it’s not. For children, the case of sexual violence is very high here. Parents also beat their children. There are also pregnant women who still have to work, while the husband does nothing at home. There are so many cases like that in Papua.
How many reports do you get a month?
It varies at the health center. Sometimes 10, sometimes 15. There are more who are afraid to report it. It’s like an iceberg.
Marital rape not being prosecuted enough, campaigners say, in a country where women face growing harassment
Kate Lamb Thu 18 Jul 2019
Activists have warned of an “epidemic” of sexual harassment and violence against women in Indonesia, in the wake of two recent cases of horrific domestic abuse. In one incident, a man in Jakarta reportedly slashed his wife’s throat with a machete after she refused to have sex with him, an act witnessed by their two children, aged seven and 14. The mother survived the attack last week, police told reporters, after neighbours heard screams, broke down the door and found her in a critical condition. The 34-year-old woman is recovering and “now able to speak”.
This week a mother of three from west Java attacked her husband with an axe after he allegedly demanded his sex “quota”. Police said the woman, who gave birth two months ago, had postpartum depression.
“The stories were so shocking, one because they were pretty graphic and brutal, but at the same time I was quite shocked that not many media picked it up,” Hannah Al Rashid, an Indonesian actor and activist, told the Guardian. “Maybe it’s because in these cases both women were married and it was about marital rape, something that a lot of people in this country deny exists.”
Describing violence against women in Indonesia as an “epidemic”, the actor said: “I think what scares me most about the issue here is that you can call it an epidemic and not much is being done.” In a country where airing marital problems has long been considered taboo, the recent incidents are indicative of a deeply ingrained problem, said Mariana Amiruddin, from the national commission on violence against women.
“In Indonesia marital rape is subject to the domestic violence act,” she said. “But the culture here still considers that wives have to sexually serve [their husbands] under any circumstances.”
Data from the national commission in 2018 showed the highest number of cases of violence against women occurred within households, with a rising trend of marital rape, in part, the commission believes, because more women are coming forward.
Separately, results from a survey released by a coalition of women’s rights groups on Wednesday showed that Indonesian women also face frequent sexual harassment in public spaces, including in the street and on public transport, and at the workplace and educational institutes.
The survey, which included 62,000 respondents from across 34 provinces, revealed that more than 60% of women in Indonesia had experienced verbal sexual harassment, and more than half before the age of 16.
The results also tackled several victim-blaming myths:
“Victims of sexual harassment have been blamed a lot for being seen as ‘inviting’ harassment by wearing sexy clothes or walking alone at night,” said Rika Rosvianti, from one of the groups involved. “But all these assumptions can be refuted by the results of this survey. The survey results clearly show that veiled women are often harassed, even during the day.”
Some 17% of women surveyed said they were sexually harassed in public while wearing a hijab, while 35% said they were harassed during the day, compared to 21% at night.
Speaking at the release of the survey, Al Rashid called on the public to raise awareness about violence against women, particularly online.
“Sometimes we think who are we to change anything? But we actually can make a change, one case at a time.”
Baiq Nuril Maknun had been sentenced to six months for documenting boss’s lewd calls
Associated Press in Jakarta Thu 25 Jul 2019
Indonesia’s parliament has unanimously approved an amnesty for a woman who was jailed for documenting sexual harassment by her employer. Baiq Nuril Maknun, 37, who worked at a school on the island of Lombok, recorded a telephone conversation with the headteacher, whom she accused of making repeated unwanted sexual advances. A colleague used the audio to lodge an official complaint against the man.
The supreme court in Jakarta convicted Maknun of recording and spreading indecent material under the country’s electronic information and transactions law. She was sentenced to six months in prison and fined 500m rupiah (£26,400) after overturning a 2017 acquittal from a lower court.
The case attracted international attention, with human rights groups pledging to support Maknun’s fight for justice. The president, Joko Widodo, recommended amnesty after Maknun had exhausted all other legal avenues.
On Wednesday, lawmakers applauded as Maknun’s reprieve was announced. She wept as she told parliament: “Don’t let anyone else have an experience like mine. It hurt so much, I hope there won’t be any more victims, and women should dare to speak up.”
The case has renewed focus on the treatment of women in Indonesia, a conservative country that tolerates child marriage, has high levels of violence against women and imposes virginity tests on women who want to join the military or police.
New draft bill, decades in the making, could also criminalise insulting the president and tightens abortion laws
Kate Lamb in Jakarta Thu 19 Sep 2019
Indonesia is set to pass a new criminal code that could outlaw living together outside marriage, extramarital sex and insulting the president, among a raft of changes that rights groups have decried as disastrous.
The Indonesian parliament has spent decades revising its colonial-era criminal code, creating a 628-article draft bill that could be passed in coming days.
Containing a series of contentious new revisions, a coalition of Indonesian rights groups argue the new code violates the rights of women, religious minorities and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, as well as freedom of speech and association.
“Indonesia’s draft criminal code is disastrous not only for women and religious and gender minorities, but for all Indonesians,” said Andreas Harsono, senior Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch, “Lawmakers should remove all the abusive articles before passing the law.”
Activists have called on president Joko Widodo to delay the bill, saying significant revisions were required.
In the world’s most populous Muslim nation, among one of the most controversial inclusions in the draft penal code was the article on adultery, which could see extramarital sex punishable by up to one year in prison.
As well as criminalising adultery and sex workers, in a country where LGBT people face persecution and rampant discrimination, critics believe the article would in effect criminalise all same-sex conduct.
A separate article states that couples living together outside marriage could be sentenced to six months in prison, an offence that can be reported by a village head, while another specifies that only health professionals and “competent volunteers” can discuss contraception and family planning.
“The bill’s provisions censoring information about contraception could set back the progress Indonesia has made in recent years to dramatically reduce maternal deaths,” Harsono said.
Subsequent articles state that only doctors have the right to decide on abortions. Under the draft law, a woman who has unlawfully terminated her pregnancy could face four years in prison.
Indicative of Indonesia’s increasing religious conservatism, the new draft further recognises any “living law”, which could be interpreted to include local sharia or customary laws at the local level, of which there are hundreds across the country that discriminate against women, LGBT people and religious minorities.
The new code also looks set to rollback Indonesia’s notable press freedoms by making it a criminal offence to insult the president and vice president.
This week, on the back of another problematic law that is widely expected to weaken a critical anti-corruption commission, the media published scathing caricatures of the president – content that could be deemed unlawful in the future.
The new code will further expand the existing blasphemy law, and outlines a 10-year prison term for associating with organisations that follow a Marxist-Leninist ideology.
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