Women should fight for equal rights: Megawati

Women should fight for equal rights: Megawati

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri has urged Indonesian women to
fight, instead of beg, for equal rights as the 1945 Constitution
guarantees all citizens equality before the state and law.

During the celebration of Women's Day on Monday at the State
Palace, Megawati emphasized that women should not ask for special
treatment in the cause of eliminating discrimination against
women.

"Our Constitution clearly stipulates that we have to be free
from discrimination ... but our efforts to achieve that objective
should not be through discriminatory methods," the President
said.

Megawati, the first woman president in the country, has always
been considered to be insensitive to women's fight against
discrimination.

She made the last gesture when she rejected the proposal to
establish a 30 percent quota for women in the government and
legislature, to be inserted into the law on political parties.

Megawati, born a daughter of founding president Sukarno, has
repeatedly said such affirmative action would only create further
discrimination against men.

The President has always underlined that women should not ask
for special treatment but fight for equal rights, using their own
strengths.

"We already have the regulations, so it is up to women to make
the most of them and be bold enough to challenge those that
undermine women," she remarked.

Megawati further criticized the country's traditional stance
in which the interests of men, even from an early age, are
prioritized over those of women.

"I urge all mothers not to differentiate in the treatment of
their children, especially boys, because boys or girls are both
same," she said.

The President also urged women to continue working hard, to
master the sciences to enable them to become more educated and
join political parties to seek power and better positions in all
fields, including the executive and legislature.

Megawati also said that she had signed a presidential decree
on a national action plan to eliminate women- and child-
trafficking in the country.

"These crimes need to be eradicated because they violate human
rights," the President said.

Citing an increasing amount of domestic violence, which covers
almost 90 percent of cases of abuse against women, Megawati urged
all wives to have the courage to take a stand against their
husband, should they be abusive.

"As wives we should demand that our husbands treat us in a
respectful manner and not be afraid of living apart, away from
abusive husbands," she remarked.

The President stressed resistance to domestic violence, in
line with the recent statement from women's activists who said
that most women felt too isolated to report their husband's
mistreatment against them.

Data from non-governmental organization Mitra Perempuan said
that of 226 domestic violence cases they processed only 11.5
percent as far as court because most women chose to withdraw
their complaints against their husbands.

The House of Representatives has prepared a bill on domestic
violence, to be deliberated during the next sitting.

During the 74th commemoration of Women's Day, the government
and central bank also signed an agreement to empower woman in the
small- and medium-sized enterprises sector.

The agreement obliges the central bank to push for cooperation
between banks and women's organizations to distribute soft loans
for women.

The agreement, signed by State Minister of Women's Empowerment
Sri Redjeki Soemaryoto and Bank Indonesia Governor Syahril
Sabirin on Friday, assigned both agencies to establish a task
force to coordinate the disbursement of the loan in the country.