Jakarta
– The Indonesian Women's Parade of Struggle held an action in Central Jakarta
on March 8 to commemorate International Women's Day (IWD).
In 1910 an international conference in Copenhagen organised by socialist groups agreed to use the momentum of International Women's Day on March 8 as a form of respect for the struggle for women's human rights.
The Indonesian Women's Parade of Struggle took to the streets this year in an action joined by around 500 people, the majority of which were women. At 10am they gathered a the the Horse Statue in front of the Indosat building (the National Monument entrance) in Central Jakarta then moved off to the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry (KPPA) and finally to the nearby State Palace. There they rang 100 gongs in front of the State Palace as a symbol of anger over the problems faced by women in Indonesia, which are becoming more urgent year by year.
Nawaduka [literally meaning Nine Sorrows] represents the political position of Indonesian women who have yet to see any reforms under the administration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla as outlined in their nine point priority program Nawacita.
Up until now, coinciding with 106 years of the international women's movement, the Widodo administration has failed to keep its pledge in accordance with Nawacita and on the contrary has deepened the Nawaduka of Indonesian women. Because up until now the state has yet to treat women with respect: there is no menstrual leave, maternity leave or places to breast feed at work in accordance with the law. There are still low wages and employment insecurity for domestic and migrant workers.
Women are also venerable to sexual harassment and violence, particularly in virginity test for female applicants to the Indonesian military and national police. Women also often face discrimination and difficulties in accessing public services.
"The sorrow of poverty and free market policies mean that women are the first casualties when there are mass dismissals. Women also do not have access to healthcare services and this contributes to increasing levels of maternal mortality rates because of problems accessing the BPJS [Social Security Management Agency]", said Mutiara Ika from Free Women. (jum)
[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was Parade Juang Perempuan Indonesia Sampaikan Nawaduka Perempuan Indonesia.]
