Wasti Atmodjo, Denpasar – At least 110 participants from 15 Asian countries grouped under the Kartini Asia Network (KAN) will discuss various gender issues, including the current controversial pornography bill, in a conference in Bali from Nov. 2 to Nov. 6.
"Although the pornography bill is a local issue, it has received international attention," conference chairwoman Nursyahbani Katjasungkana told reporters in a press conference Monday.
According to Nuryahbani, a member of KAN, many of her friends overseas have asked about the issue and its potential political and economical impacts on the country.
During the conference, which will be opened by State Minister for Women's Empowerment Meutia Hatta, who is a supporter of the bill, those participating in the event, including representatives of Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Bangladesh and China, will just share their opinions, Nuryahbani said.
"We don't know how many participants will support or oppose the bill. The point is the bill is viewed as a restriction," said Nursyahbani, who is also a member of the House of Representatives and the National Awakening Party.
She denied allegations the event, themed "The future of Asian feminism confronting fundamentalism, conflict and neoliberalism", was being used to gain international momentum to reject the bill, which will be approved by the House on Thursday.
She said some speakers at the event would discuss sexuality, including Indonesian gender activist R Valentina Sagala, who would present her paper titled "Advocacy for sexual rights in the draft of the anti-pornography bill and pornographic acts".
Nursyahbani said the participants would discuss four other topics at the event: Globalization and women's poverty, fundamentalism, conflict and violence against women; and feminist leadership in Asia.
Nursyahbani said the conference would produce a resolution on the issues, which would be disbursed to local and international institutions.
Local women activists earlier expressed their concern about growing fundamentalism in the country, as evidenced by sharia-inspired bylaws enacted in certain regions.
The activists generally felt the porn bill was mostly being advanced by Islamic-based political parties as part of an increasing trend of fundamentalism.
Bali gender activist Sita T. Van Bemmelen said she hoped the KAN conference would raise awareness on the many problems faced by women.
"Globalization, for example, and its derivative issues, such as labor and privatization, would affect many aspects of women's lives," said Sita, who accompanied Nursyahbani during the press conference.
She said she regretted the fact that the government and academics paid little attention to women's issues, adding that she hoped the KAN conference would encourage public interest and research on the issues.
She said, so far, researches currently being conducted on women were limited by the small number of women study centers in the country and a lack of funding.