Women's groups meet Gus Dur and Megawati
Women's groups meet Gus Dur and Megawati
JAKARTA (JP): A group of woman activists urged the new
government on Tuesday to take human rights abuses against women
and children more seriously.
In a meeting with President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice
President Megawati Soekarnoputri at the State Guest House,
representatives of 25 women's organizations stressed the issue
and insisted the government act on unresolved findings of rights
violations which victimized women and children in the past.
"We hope to see the Cabinet take concrete steps to follow-up
those findings and impose stern measures against those found
guilty within 100 days of its tenure," the women's group said in
a statement, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta
Post.
Noted activist Saparinah Sadli led the group and was
accompanied by State Minister of Women's Affairs Khofifah Indar
Parawansa.
During the two-hour meeting, the group reminded the President
of a long list of cases of sexual assaults on women across the
country, notably those which occurred here during the May riots
last year and in the volatile provinces of Aceh, Maluku and Irian
Jaya.
The group also asked the government to consider establishing a
special team under the vice president's office to help the
Minister of Women's Affairs and Minister of Human Rights offices
implement and draw up policies to protect women's and children's
rights.
Promoting women's and children's interests as a national
agenda would also be the responsibility of the team in
coordinating with the ministry of women's affairs.
When it came to migrant workers, the group demanded that the
government ratify the United Nations Convention on Migrant
Workers and enact a law to implement the convention, as well as
other labor conventions.
Some 5,000 Indonesian female migrant workers were reportedly
stranded in the Middle East. Most of the women were employed as
domestic workers but quit their jobs to escape from abuses
committed by their employees.
On domestic women's labor, the group asked for a fair
implementation of occupational health and safety regulations.
The group also suggested that the government promote equal
rights between men and women with the abolishment of
discriminative regulations the top priority.
Concerning women's health, the group pushed for immediate
action to arrange policies to decrease the mortality rate and
improve health services in dealing with diseases affecting women,
particularly breast cancer.
Megawati promised the group that the government would follow-
up the group's demands. (04)