[Kabar-indonesia] Women call for quota in Aceh bill

[Joyo at aol.com]

also: Looking into causes of violence against women; 
and Divorce rate high in Minahasa

The Jakarta Post 
Saturday, June 24, 2006

Women call for quota in Aceh bill

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Activists are demanding legislators ensure women's political rights are 
protected in the Aceh governance bill expected to be passed into law by the middle 
of next month.

The bill should allocate quotas for women in local political parties, they 
said.

Tunggal Pawestri, the coordinator for women and election programs at the 
Center for Election Reform (Cetro), said the House must retain Article 67 of the 
bill, which requires local political parties to allocate at least 30 percent of 
membership positions to women.

"The Aceh legislative council has included articles on women's representation 
in the Aceh bill, but lawmakers at the national level are planning to scrap 
them, claiming the quota for women could hinder the establishment of local 
parties," she said Thursday.

Tunggal said this indicated the House of Representatives doubted the 
capability of Acehnese women in participating in politics.

"The House has no need to worry," she said.

Tunggal said committee members organizing local parties in Aceh had told her 
it was not difficult to get women to participate.

A House special committee, which first drew up the Aceh bill, ruled local 
political parties must allocate 30 percent of all their positions to women.

However, the working committee, which is assigned to finalize the 
legislation, is considering eliminating the quota because of what it says are potential 
problems in its implementation.

Irmadi Lubis, an Acehnese member of the working committee from the Indonesian 
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), told The Jakarta Post the 30 percent 
requirement was to be removed to avoid making it difficult for local parties to 
form in Aceh.

However, the regulation still required local parties to be concerned about 
women's representation, he said. "The elimination of the requirement will leave 
the allocation of quotas to the local government."

Irmadi said passing quotas should be the privilege of local Acehnese 
administrations through the issuance of qanun.

"We know that local bylaws are influenced by sharia, and the Hadith (a 
narrative of the teachings and customs of the Prophet Muhammad) suggests that women 
stay at home, while men are involved in outside activities," he said. "So, 
we'll leave this concern to the Aceh administration, which includes sharia 
experts and ulema."

However, Nurjanah Ismail, a lecturer with the Arraniri State Institute of 
Islamic Studies in Banda Aceh, disagreed that Islam restricted women's 
participation in politics.

"The Koran even tells the story of the prosperous reign of a queen," she 
said. "Aceh's history also includes women heroes. Today, I can see that more 
Acehnese women are interested in politics."

Recent qanun passed by the Acehnese provincial government has been criticized 
for abrogating women's rights in the religiously conservative province.

Under the new bylaws, women can now be fined for wearing clothing judged 
immodest and arrested for being out alone at night, or on a date without a 
chaperone. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Jakarta Post 
Saturday, June 24, 2006

Opinion

Looking into causes of violence against women

Rubina Hussain, Jakarta

The problem of human rights violations is a serious one in general, but if 
the weakest sector of society is subjected to the worst kind of behavior 
imaginable by mankind, the society will deteriorate and disintegrate, and development 
of society will be severely impeded.

Violence against women is categorized as the lowest of all types of behavior, 
no logic can justify the cruelty and degradation that women suffer on a daily 
basis all over the world. Violence against women occurs in the developing 
world but it is also equally evident in developed and modern societies.

Prejudice becomes part of their lives at a very elementary stage, even in the 
way they are not allowed to develop mentally and physically with regards 
their basic rights to education, health and employment. Women's rights to liberty 
are curtailed in the name of modesty and prevention of immoral activities.

Often religion is used as a scapegoat to degrade women and to limit their 
activities extensively. Although all the major religions provide documented 
rights for women, unfortunately, especially in many Asian countries, militarism 
combined with a typical male chauvinistic attitude has led to the poor 
implementation, if any, of any such laws and rights. The women end up being exploited by 
those same elements which should be protecting them.

Many reasons exist for this multifaceted problem in which wrongful 
application and abuse of religious edicts and societal rights are evident. The 
dominating interference or misinterpretation of religious and legal aspects is only 
compounded, often by the presence of dictatorial regimes in these countries or 
provinces. Poor enforcement of laws and local regulations leads to policies 
which are biased and prejudiced. These prevent women from seeking equal 
participation and acknowledgement at many levels.

In countries like Pakistan, feudalism is the root cause of many violations 
against the weaker gender. The feudal culture is centuries old and ingrained in 
the daily lives of these societies where women have been debased to the 
category of a slave or a domestic animal. In countries like Kenya, early marriage, 
female genital mutilation (FGM) and gang rape are only a few of the atrocities 
meted out on women.

In Nepal 80 percent of rapes occur below the age of 12. Other evils include 
domestic violence, accusations of witchery, trafficking and prostitution. The 
number of deaths relating to abortions and childbirth are some of the highest 
in the world. Terms such as polygamy, alcohol abuse and family violence have 
become accepted as the fate of the poor women in this region. India and 
Bangladesh are other countries with terrible human rights violations against women 
especially honor killings, acid throwing and facial mutilation for matters of 
honor and family pride.

Women are household workers and their contribution to society goes 
unrecognized and unmentioned in those forums where their efforts should be accepted and 
awarded. Although the home should be a safe haven for the woman, most violence 
originates within those same walls which are meant to protect her, and then 
often by members of the same sex. The woman is often times victimized by 
someone she trusts.

The ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor further worsens the 
situation. This monetary polarization of society has led to further degradation of 
the already miserable lot of women, particularly in many developing Asian 
countries.

Indeed violence against women is a reality for millions across the globe. It 
must be addressed at a structural level. It needs long and short term 
strategies where women are empowered and all gender related criminal attitudes are 
recognized and strongly condemned. Battered women have limited access to support 
groups, shelter houses are few and overcrowded. Women victims of violence must 
be provided with skills and employment, so they become worthwhile members of 
the society.

Strong women's organizations and movements have been established that 
encourage and support the democratic rights and freedom of women. Steps are being 
taken to implement policies which are gender responsive and pro-poor.

The major stakeholders need to be identified and sensitized. Some of the 
major components of society involved are the judiciary, police, religious leaders, 
teachers, students, electronic media and of course the members of society at 
large.

Violence and abuse begin in the mind. We need to deal with the mind-set of 
people in influential positions so that the trickle-down effect travels to those 
sections of society in dire need of these reforms. Community exposure is 
needed and violence against women needs to be explained, the outlook and male 
perspective need to be changed. Gender sensitization training needs to be made 
available. The impact of cultural norms in society needs to be evaluated, 
assessed and its importance stressed. Although all forms of violence are different, 
they are all related to the patriarchal stamp on society. National campaigns 
involving the youth must be sped up to say NO to violence against the most 
vulnerable members of today's society.

Subsequently, rehabilitation of the victims of mental and physical abuse must 
to be comprehensive and available to those in real need of it. During 
rehabilitation emphasis should be laid on empowering the victim, and not on 
victimizing the victim, a holistic approach must be developed and the mental health of 
the abused must be taken into account.

The family environment ought to be redefined, a holistic approach needs to be 
developed, where humanitarian ideals can flourish and overpower the dark 
shadows of bias and hatred which have engulfed our societies for centuries. Let us 
seek lasting solutions where these victims can be rehabilitated and 
reintegrated into society with a semblance of normal life.

The sectors of women's health and education need to be addressed in a more 
serious manner. Maternal mortality rates in many countries are despicable and a 
source of shame to the governments. Basic rights such as sanitation, 
employment, houses are missing in the to-do lists of those in the higher echelons of 
governments. Exemplary punishment against all violators of human rights in 
general and the perpetrators of women's abuse in particular must be swift and 
prompt.

Significant changes need to be brought about to counteract the many problems 
mentioned. They include political, economic, social and legal empowerment.

The goals are to remove the imbalances in socioeconomic development and to 
ensure women equal access to all development benefits and social services and to 
allow women to participate as equal partners in national development and 
decision-making processes.

The writer is a senior school consultant. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The Jakarta Post 
Saturday, June 24, 2006

Divorce rate high in Minahasa

TONDANO, North Sulawesi: Divorce dominates civil cases being tried at the 
Tondano District Court in Minahasa, where divorce rates are high.

"The divorce rate in Minahasa is no doubt high compared to other areas... and 
it is a matter of great concern," said president of the Tondano District 
Court, Abraham Leatemia, in Tondano on Friday.

Divorce dominated the civil cases tried at the court over the past year, he 
said. Although he did not cite any figures, Abraham estimated that around 60 to 
70 percent of the civil cases were divorce cases.

When asked about the reasons, Abraham said the general reasons were 
irreconcilable differences.

"The differences were caused by many factors, but generally the wife or 
husband was having an extramarital affair," he said.

He added that those petitioning for divorce were not only wives but in many 
cases the husbands were in fact the complainants.

------------------------------------------
Joyo Indonesia News Service
------------------------------------------