Reproductive rights still largely denied

Reproductive rights still largely denied

JAKARTA (JP): Women's reproductive rights in Indonesia are
still largely shunned by society, says a prominent physician and
family planning campaigner.

Kartono Mohamad, the chairman of the Indonesian Planned
Parenthood Association (PKBI), said at a discussion on Saturday
that although legislation and government policies in Indonesia
guarantee women's reproductive rights, people's attitudes often
prevent women from exercising their rights.

In many parts of the country, decisions on pregnancy,
marriage, contraception or even which doctors to go to are often
made by husbands or mother-in-laws, he said.

"Society still doesn't respect women's reproductive rights and
most men regard women as 'reproductive machines' that they can
divorce if they fail to give them children as expected," he said.

Women should have the right to say no to sex, to decide when
to get pregnant, and to choose their own form contraception based
on fair and adequate information, he added.

Saturday's discussion was held in conjunction with the 38th
anniversary of PKBI, which preceded the government's family
planning campaign that began in 1969.

Other speakers included Riffat Hasan, a lecturer of Islamic
theology at the University of Kentucky in the United States, and
Jalaluddin Rahmat of the University of Padjadjaran in Bandung.

Kartono said that continuous efforts must be made to educate
the middle class about respecting women's reproductive rights.

"But the most important thing is to involve men in every
effort to improve women's reproductive rights here, to make the
men see that a woman's biological destiny is not only to be
pregnant and give birth as a duty without rights," Kartono said.

He rejected the suggestion that discriminatory acts against
women stem from religious teachings, particularly Islam. He
quoted several Koranic verses which clearly protect and respect
women's reproductive rights.

"Islam gives a place for women's reproductive rights. But
sometimes people make incorrect interpretations and give power to
men while neglecting women's rights," Kartono said.

He said ulemas should be involved in campaigns to promote
women's reproductive rights. "Ulemas can mention in their sermons
that the high maternal mortality rate here is often caused by
anemia, hemorrhaging and undernutrition in pregnant women," he
said.

In many poor Indonesian families, he said, women eat last,
even if they are pregnant. "A wife prepares the food for her
husband, children and in-laws. She will eat what is left after
they have had their share."

Despite Indonesia's success in reducing the infant mortality
rate, the maternal mortality rate remains the highest in Asia.

The government is planning a campaign to help reduce the
maternal mortality rate from 421 deaths per 100,000 births at
present to 225 per 100,000 births by 1999, and to cut the infant
mortality rate from 5,800 deaths per 100,000 births at present to
5,000 per 100,000 births by the end of the decade. (31)