Niken Prathivi, Nusa Dua – It takes women to make other women talk, to share and discuss their toughest experiences in the hope of eventually solving their common problems.
In such a spirit, the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) Indonesia, in cooperation with the World YWCA, is holding a regional gathering in Nusa Dua, Bali, with the theme "Women Creating Safe and Secure Communities."
In the six-day event, which started Sunday, 90 women leaders representing 24 YWCAs in the Asia Pacific region, including Japan and Australia, are scheduled to discuss violence against women, sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV/AIDS, migration as well as climate change issues.
Deputy Minister of Women's Empowerment Setiawati Arifin said her office fully supports the meeting, especially in finding ways to cope with the rising number of HIV/AIDS cases among women and children.
"The number of infections in women and children is so high. The government cannot work alone; we all need to work hand in hand to fight the virus," Setiawati told a press conference Monday.
"The women's empowerment minister (Meutia Hatta Swasono) asked me to convey that the spread of HIV/AIDS, human trafficking and violence targeting women are our common enemies."
The World Health Organization stated Indonesia had at least 270,000 people living with HIV in 2008, in 2001 the number was 93,000. The cumulative number of deaths caused by AIDS reached 8,700 in 2008, compared with 100 deaths in 2001.
On violence against women, the National Commission on Women's Protection recorded 54,425 cases in 2008, a 113 percent increase from 2007, with 90 percent of the total categorized as domestic violence.
Setiawati went on that education on HIV/AIDS issues was really important as the disease was closely connected to other women's issues, like reproductive health and rights, and even trafficking.
"The spread (of the virus) is becoming awry, as devoted housewives have reportedly caught HIV from their unfaithful husbands."
The WHO stated Indonesia had an estimated 3,300 number of pregnant women with HIV who needed antiretroviral treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission last year; however, only 89 of them received the required treatment.
"One thing I would like to emphasize is that women are not a burden or barrier; instead, women are a valuable asset for country to develop," Setiawati added.
YWCA Indonesia's president Theresia Rooroh Paruntu said she hoped all 90 participants could confer to produce constructive recommendations for the improvement of various women's issues across Asia.
World YWCA president Susan Brennan suggested that to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS cases in women and children, a country must promote proper treatment for pregnant women with HIV, as well as erase any stigma. "No discrimination is allowed. Please pay attention to another challenge, that is, the criminalization of people with HIV/AIDS."
The World YWCA is a global network of women leading social and economic change in 125 countries. It advocates peace, justice, health, human dignity, freedom and care for the environment, and has been raising the status of women since its establishment in 1855.