Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – A national gathering of women activists ended Thursday with a statement that included a demand for firm action against the victimization of women in the name of religion.
Women and fundamentalism was listed among 12 critical issues of the women's movement in the next five years, with activists from across the country urging state and major religious-based organizations to "correct hard-line fundamentalism".
Bylaws based on the sharia have been introduced in several regencies, with restrictions including a public curfew for women and the requirement for them to wear the headscarf in public. A pregnant woman in Tangerang municipality in Banten regency filed a lawsuit against local authorities for wrongful arrest for soliciting.
Activists in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province contend that women are targeted under sharia for misdemeanors such as wearing improper attire, while men continue to practice illegal gambling.
The three-day gathering in East Jakarta, attended by women from 28 provinces, was the first for women activists to chart a unified program since the formal end of the New Order regime in 1998. Organizers included the Indonesian Coalition of Women (KPI), a loose organization of women's groups and organizations.
Issues on fundamentalism were among four major themes of law, poverty and politics.
Activists said they would communicate with other groups, including parties "against" the women's movement, in combating fundamentalism. They also stated they would continue to promote "values of pluralism, equality and justice", and reveal and introduce religious interpretations honoring the position of women.
A movement led by former first lady Sinta Nuriyah Wahid previously sought to change teachings considered misinterpretations of the Koran by clerics of Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Muslim organization which she is affiliated with.
KPI secretary-general Masruchach told the forum that the state must ensure the upholding of human rights, "especially because discrimination against women remains high". Threats against women, she added, "are no longer limited to state policies which are not responsive to women".
The congress also demanded an end to regulations and amendments to the Constitution which violate human rights.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who briefly attended the closing ceremony, expressed disagreement with calls to end loan-based development. The women argued the allocation of the budget to serve foreign and domestic loans, which has been projected to reach almost 19 percent of total spending next year, eventually hurts poor women the most, particularly those who are family breadwinners.
"How we can we spend more for education and health if we stop borrowing?" Kalla said, adding that the United States shouldered the largest foreign debt in the world.
Despite reports of widespread gender-based discrimination, Kalla believed the issue was more about individual contributions. "Basically, the role of women and men in this country depends on their competence as human resources," he said.