What they say about the problems of RI's women

JAKARTA (JP): When asked what problems Indonesian women face, a journalist pointed out that there are no problems exclusive to women here.

"Their problems are the problems of most Indonesians, and those are poverty-related," he said. "Under the law, they enjoy treatment similar to that experienced by men."

But many don't share his opinion. Women are still treated as subordinate to men as dictated by tradition. Politically and professionally women have to fight for opportunity and better roles.

The following report is excerpted from The Jakarta Post interviews with several people on the subject.

Nona Pooroe Utomo, executive director of Indonesian AIDS Foundation:

Who says that urban women no longer have basic, cliche problems like equality? If we have women leaders, women politicians and women activists, they are only rare cases. Women like me who get a better opportunity to do whatever we want to do are privileged.

In society, stereotypes and limitations for women still exist. Recently, for example, I had to obtain a new passport and when I went to the immigration office to make it, people there still asked for my husband's consent. In family, women have to use contraceptives more than men. It is very rare for a man to agree to use a condom. And yet, when family planning in Indonesia is said to be successful, it is considered as a result of everyone's cooperation even though in fact many women are forced to join the program who don't have the opportunity to choose otherwise. And, in families limited income and restricted budget for schooling, it is still the daughters who have to give in to their brothers. And in many occasions, we still hear people say 'we give an opportunity for women to....' Even from the use of language, we can see that gender problem does exist. Women is given an opportunity, it is not their right to have an opportunity.

And, don't say that men who are well-educated are free from stereotyped thoughts about women. I went to a seminar on reproductive health in Yogyakarta recently. There was a woman speaker, a man speaker and a woman moderator. When the woman speaker was about to give her speech, the moderator said the speaker might spend quite a long time because she was not just any woman, but also a lawyer and a woman activist. At that moment, the man speaker, who is a gynecologist, said "Yes, sure, because women have two mouths." He is an educated man and yet he said it. So, I think we are still at a very basic level. If we want to change this, all people, men and women, should participate. It is impossible if it is only women who try to change the situation. This is a social process which needs the participation of all people. Don't say we don't have this basic problem anymore, such a thought can actually close the possibility of change.

And, if we speak about women's dual role, sometimes it can boomerang on women. Most women take the dual role as an ideal, a utopia. They think they should balance their careers and home life as mothers. But, in fact, it is impossible to do both roles equally well. There should always be a priority. And, unfortunately, women themselves don't appreciate there are womenfolk who cannot perform these two roles well.

Leila S. Chudori, mother of one daughter, writer and ex- journalist at the defunct Tempo magazine:

Superficially there have been changes. Women have entered the workforce which was previously a man's world. They can fill any position and can have a good education. And now the competition between men and women is really based on the brain. But this is superficial.

Because of these illusory things, people keep saying that today there is no discrimination against women, but actually there is still a cultural problem.

Women have a high level of education and can work, which is fine. But there is always the "but" to remind all women that they cannot forget their nature as mothers and wives. For women, there is always a "but". In western countries this can be very difficult because there are no servants, so women must take care of the house. Here, in Indonesia, things are a bit better because we can have servants and baby minders.

We see in men entering the domain of women in some movies and advertisements, such as cooking and changing a baby's diaper. This kind of thing isn't really common in Indonesia yet.

People who visited me after I had just given birth to my daughter were surprised to see my husband bathing my daughter. For me it's normal because it takes two people to produce a child. Besides, my husband has more experience in child rearing because he took care of his brothers and sisters. It's clear that Indonesian men are not seen in multi-function roles, they are mainly seen as bread winners -- not as fathers or husbands. As for women, their roles as wives and mothers are very accentuated.

The cultural thing is difficult to change. Even when I worked for a magazine like Tempo, which was an intellectual institution, I still saw these things. For example, when a female colleague didn't show up to work because her child was sick, everybody at the office said things like "That is typical of a women if they are married and have children". But when a male colleague didn't show up because he had to take care of his sick child, every one sympathized with him. It is always women who are to blame.

In terms of salary and job task, there was no discrimination. Women and men were equal. Women reporters had to go home late too when I was with Tempo. But, there was a discriminative policy regarding annual leave. If a woman employee was pregnant and took her right to three months' maternity leave (as stipulated by the Indonesian labor law), she was no longer entitled to her two weeks' annual leave. It was really discriminating. If such a thing happened at an institution like Tempo, just imagine what women laborers face. Most of them are fired when they get pregnant, even though the law prohibits it.

Dewi Fortuna Anwar, Head of Regional and International Affairs Division at the Center for Political and regional Studies at the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI):

Educated urban women working in the public sector do not face any form of discrimination. But, at the higher level, there are still social and personal constraints. The small number of women being promoted to the top echelon is because there are still doubts, not over their skill, but over their ability and willingness to leave their family and to spare more time for work. In Indonesia, the responsibility of running a house and a family still lies with women. Therefore, if a child is sick, or if there is no servant at home, often a mother cannot go to work. Therefore, it often happens that the women themselves who refuse if they are given a chance for a higher position. In universities or research centers like LIPI, there is no question like that. If there is a research program that demands a woman to go somewhere, she must go.

For women in the private sector, there is still gender discrimination because although a woman is married, in terms of salary she is still treated as single. For example, married men get family benefits like health allowances for their wives and children. Married women don't get this benefit. Even if a woman is actually the bread winner of her family, there is no allowance for her husband and children. Even if she works for an American company here, she won't get any family allowance because in the United States married female employees are also treated as single.

Actually, Indonesia has ratified the United Nations Convention on Elimination of all Discrimination Against Women in 1984 which means women are also entitled to the allowances and benefits. But in practice no one implements it.

In the public sector there is no such a discrimination because women employees also receive health allowances for their husbands and children.

I think that's the problem of educated urban women but woman laborers are still discriminated against, from sexual harassment to lower salaries.

Marzuki Darusman, member of National Committee for Human Rights:

Politically, Indonesian women face no problem. Since the proclamation of independence in 1945, they have enjoyed equal political status with men, compared, for example, to Switzerland where women had to wait until four years ago before they were granted the right to vote. Further, women here make up 14 percent of the members of the House of Representatives, higher than in the U.S. (figures?)

Indonesian women, however, still face social problems. The government, in its 1973 decree on Education on Family Welfare, which became the guidelines for its handling of women's affairs, defines Indonesian women under five attributes:

1. Husband cohort

2. Housekeeping mother

3. Reproductive-function mother

4. Child educator mother

5. Citizen

This definition puts women second to men. By placing the "citizen" attribute at the bottom of the list, the definition puts a woman's right to contribute to the country at the bottom of the priority list.

Indonesian women are mainly judged in terms of their domestic contributions. By this definition they are denied a chance to achieve. They are psychologically and socially hampered from achieving anything outside domestic affairs.

A woman's domestic role is surely important. Through their domestic tasks, women play a decisive role in preparing the next generation. Still, if they are forced to spend all their time nurturing and are given no chance for personal achievement, women's lives will only be a sacrifice to the next generation.

Thus, as far as the rights of women are concerned, political equality isn't enough. Social construction and perception must also be transformed.

Many urban women have luckily been emancipated from this situation. They are independent from men. Unfortunately, few of them are concerned about the women still living under sexual injustice. Only women active in NGOs make the problem an issue, while those in political and business spheres busy themselves with their own ambitions.

The emancipation of women is different from feminism. Feminism in the West emphasize the right of women to choose marriage or lead a single-mother lifestyle. In my view this is a concept that doesn't fit Indonesia. The emancipation we struggle for aims to preserve the central position of women in the family. For us, there is no choice between marrying or remaining a single parent.

Yanti Muchtar, an activist of the non-governmental organization, Women's Solidarity:

I think one of the most serious problems of women, both in rural and urban areas, is the fact that they are often denied their economic rights.

There are a lot of urban women who are pushed into the domestic sector, while those who do get work outside their homes find it difficult to build careers because they are burdened with household chores and child care. The fact that there are no day- care centers in workplaces exacerbate the situation they face.

It's true that both men and women have to cooperate to solve the problems. The government always tells us to avoid confrontation with men in efforts to liberate women. But sometimes confrontation is unavoidable. (als/jsk/sim)