Jakarta – Women's Empowerment Minister Meutia Hatta says Kartini was a heroine and rejects criticism that she did little to fight for her own rights.

Meutia paid tribute to Kartini for fighting so that no woman in her country would be a victim like she was.

"She was a thinker of women's empowerment. She suffered the experience herself for having to leave school and marry at such a young age," Meutia said on the sidelines of the launch of the "Care for Women" program.

It was hosted by six women's organizations including the Jurnal Perempuan Foundation and the Puan Amal Hayati Foundation.

"Of course Dewi Sartika and others have contributed to the empowerment of women. Rohana Kudus from West Sumatra, for example, was the first female journalist."

A number of scholars and women's rights activists once demanded that the government revoke Kartini's status as a heroine, saying she did not contribute to the founding of Indonesia as a nation state.

Kartini lived during the rule of Indonesia by Dutch colonialists. She even bowed to pressure and entered a polygamous marriage.

Meutia said women continue to face uphill challenges long after Kartini died early in the 20th century. The minister suggested that women's organizations join forces to overcome the problems that collectively face them.

Zumrotin Soesilo, a former deputy chairperson of the National Commission on Human Rights, said the chief problem facing women is "the fact that millions of our women still live in sad conditions".

Indonesia has the highest mortality rate among women in Southeast Asia. Cases of domestic violence jumped from 3,000 in 2001 to 58,000 in 2008, Zumrotin said.

Melanie Subono, a singer at the program's launch, said, "While we have heroines like Kartini in the past, in our era we have also heroines such as Marsinah and Suciwati."

Marsinah was a female activist in East Java who was killed in her fight for labor rights. Suciwati has been fighting for justice since the murder of her husband Munir, a human rights activist.

Melanie recently released a song titled "Hey Women", but radio and television stations refused to air it. However, the song has been used as the theme for the movie At Stake and Melanie has donated it to the "Care for Women" program, who will use it to raise funds by selling it as a ringtone for cellphones.

The discussion was attended by women mostly dressed in traditional Javanese kebaya and kain outfits.

Regarding the traditional costumes – usually the Javanese kebaya – that people wear to celebrate Kartini day, Meutia said, "It's fine if children wear traditional costumes to school but of course it does not always have to be on Kartini day. They can wear them on Independence Day too."

Oppie sang her new song at the event, with the lyrics, "Women, don't limit your space, fly high to the sky, but don't forget to return home..." (iwp)