Tempo English covers Oxfam in Indonesia

Development of Indonesia’s Outlying Areas

TEMPO/PURWANI DIYAH PRABANDARI

RISING FROM OPPRESSION EVERY April 21, Indonesia celebrates Kartini Day, in honor of the daughter of Jepara Regent, Raden Mas Adipati Ario Sosroningrat. She was born in 1879 and died in 1904, devoting her adult life to the cause of women’s rights, especially the right to an education, which would place them on an equal footing with men. Yet today, more than 100 years later, many Indonesian women remain marginalized. Many still experience discrimination and violence as a result of their respective cultures. But there is also much to be optimistic about.

In North Central Timor regency, some of the women have become paralegals, strengthening the the campaign to end violence against women. In South Central Timor, a group of the ‘new men’ has decided to join a women’s rights movement. Tempo English reports from Timor Island.

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Outreach (L-R) THERESIA NAISOKO (FROM THE KLP ALFA PARALEGALS), MARIA DETILDA AND RAISABATU, (BOTH FROM THE MAUBESI VILLAGE PARALEGALS).

UNSCHOOLED ATTORNEYS FOR WOMEN Widespread violence against women and children in North Central Timor has given birth to village paralegal teams dedicated to protecting their rights.

OUTREACH TEAM Project Coordinator Amanda Siddharta Editors Hermien Y. Kleden Purwani Diyah Prabandari Writers Purwani Diyah Prabandari Isma Savitri Photographer Agung Chandra Design & Layout Ahmad Fatoni

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USANA Theresia Naisoko almost couldn’t help becoming emotional as she explained what happened to her neighbor back in November 2015. “She was beaten up so badly she had to be taken to the hospital,” Susana told journalists at the base of the Alfa Group of Central Kefamenanu, North Central Timor regency.

The victim’s mother reached out to Santri—Susana’s nickname— for help in the wake of the beating. The mother was the one who found her daughter face down on the lawn, motionless, her body bathed in blood.

At the hospital, one nurse said it was unlikely the woman would survive. “Her body was in really bad shape,” Santri said. A local priest was summoned to

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administer the final rites.

To the surprise of many, the woman survived.

Several days later, the perpetrator of the violence—the victim’s husband—was arrested. He had attempted to flee the district. The families of both parties agreed to reconcile, and the couple ‘reunited’.

“All legal proceedings were terminated,” Santri said, her eyes downcast. She said such heartbreaking tales of de facto impunity were widespread.

“We once helped a woman who was wounded badly by her husband who had used a sharp weapon against her,” added Kanisius Nino, chair of the Kuanek village paralegal team.

He said the victim’s husband slashed her with a machete on the head and on the arm. “As a man, I

cannot imagine how a husband could have committed such a crime,” he added, wiping tears from his eyes. The abuser, he said, remained at large.

Maria Detilda Eko, 35, a paralegal from Maubesi, Central Insana subdistrict, relayed another, no less bitter story about a 14-year-old rape victim. When the teenager was seven months pregnant, her family went to the headquarters of the Maubesi paralegal team to seek help. Maria and her friends assisted the family in fi ling a report with the police.

“The perpetrator was eventually arrested and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment,” Maria said.

PHOTOS: TEMPO/PURWANI DIYAH PRABANDARI

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SANTRI only holds a two-year associate’s degree. Maria, meanwhile, does not even have a high school diploma. And yet, despite their lack of legal credentials, their record of advocacy for victim’s of violence speaks for itself.

In 2012, in partnership with Oxfam Indonesia, Yabiku—otherwise known as the Care for Rural Women Foundation—recruited the two women to join a paralegal group to work against violence against women in the village.

Yabiku itself was founded in 2001 with a mandate to aid victims of domestic violence throughout East Nusa Tenggara province. “The vision is to help not only rural women but all marginalized women and children,” explained Yabiku Executive Direc-

tor Antonius Efi. According to Anton, the high rate of violence against women was the main impetus for the program. He said 187 cases of violence have been recorded in North Central Timor in the last three years, ranging from sexual harassment to domestic abuse.

The reasons for the high rate of violence were numerous, he said. Gender inequality is one big driver, as patriarchal norms are still dominant in the province. “However, the situation is shifting at present,” Anton said.

The common practice of paying the bride-price (belis) in the community also contributes to domestic violence, as it gives husbands a feeling of ownership over their spouses.

Poverty, however, is perhaps the biggest factor.

In the long dry season, plentiful harvests are rare, driving up rates of unemployment.

Yabiku has approached village authorities in his quest to seek help promoting the paralegal team.

“The important thing is that they have the spirit of volunteerism and are not themselves the actors of violence,” Anton said, adding that no tertiary education was required.

The program has been warmly received by locals, and has begun to expand. Today, Yabiku manages 56 paralegals spread over 10 village groups.

Backgrounds of members vary widely, ranging from common townsfolk to religious leaders.

After the teams were recruited, the volunteers were trained on how to handle victims’ needs, to mediate between conflicting parties, and to familiarize themselves with relevant laws. Reconciliation is the preferred method of resolution.

“But in cases of sexual violence, especially when the victims are children, the case is immediately brought to the police, “ Anton said.

Each paralegal group has set up an office for staff-members, which also doubles as a kind of safe house for victims who otherwise would have nowhere to go.

PARALEGALS AT KUANEK VILLAGE, CENTRAL BIKOMI, NORTH CENTRAL TIMOR.

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Outreach PARALEGALS IN KUANEK DURING A DISCUSSION WITH JOURNALISTS.

To date, the 10 groups have helped many victims of violence. From February 2015 to February 2016, for example, the Alfa group resolved three big cases. The Maubesi team, meanwhile, have helped guide 16 cases to resolution since 2012.

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SEVERAL of the paralegal volunteers, including Maria Datilda, have had to battle naysayers since the very beginning. “Many look at us with doubt, as many of us are only elementary school graduates,” Maria said.

Families could also be unsupportive. Maria’s husband, a driver, at first rejected his wife’s participation. “I told him, ‘You should be proud that I have been selected’.”

Traditional lines of authority present other challenges. Before, villagers typically sought out the help of customary figures or village leaders who ‘demanded’ payment. “People had to cough up ‘table-money’ and also bring sopi,” Santri said, referring to the local alcoholic beverage. “Only then would the problem be tackled.”

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Most cases of domestic violence would end in reconciliation and fi nes paid, “depending on the severity of the incident,” Kanisius Nino said. If a victim was badly wounded, say, the fine could be a cow. For less severe crimes, the fines could be in the form of sopi.

Paralegal teams, however, offer their services free of charge. “Even if the victims have to be taken to the police or to the hospital,” said Anton.

One difficulty is finding a witness willing to testify after the matter becomes a police case. “People are afraid of getting involved,” Kanisius said. Such fear is compounded when the suspect is related to an influential figure, or a policeman or soldier.

Lack of funds is yet another challenge. “At the police or the hospital we have no expenditures, but to get there we need cash,” Maria Detilda said. Though transportation is reimbursed, mostly paralegals have to pay such expenses out of pocket.

Some villages have set aside small funds for the program. “We allocate Rp750,000 for six months,” said Andreas Elu, the Kuanek village head. “But that’s only for dissemination, not for costs that emerge during the case.”

By and by, the paralegals have become increasingly adept at assisting victims of violence, and preventing future abuses. “I threaten to take perpetrators to Yabiku if they don’t cooperate,” Khatarina Son, a paralegal, said. “And it works. They are afraid,” she added.

Encouraging signs have come from the district government and the local House of Representatives (DPRD). “We are now advocating for regulations,” said Maria Filiana Tahu, a lawmaker on Commission D, which oversees economic affairs.

“We expect that by the third meeting this year, the bill will have been passed,” she said. ■

PHOTOS: TEMPO/PURWANI DIYAH PRABANDARI

KHATARINA SON (RIGHT), A PARALEGAL IN KUANEK, NORTH CENTRAL TIMOR (BOTTOM PICTURE).

THE NEW MEN MOVEMENT The ‘New Men’ Movement is spreading in South Central Timor to end violence against women by promoting the idea of gender equality among men.

ANDRI Ome tried hard to remember a song once popularized by the Ungu Band.

“It’s a song about repentance,” he recalled.

A resident of Tuafanu village in the regency of South Central Timor, East Nusa Tenggara, Yandri said the song had helped him change his ways. “I used to do really bad things,” he admitted.

“Basically, I simply did not respect women.”

By his own admission, Yandri used to treat women as mere second-class citizens. Late last February he met with Tempo English with some other journalists in Soe, the capital of South Central Timor and expounded upon his transformation.

“After I learned about the ‘New Men’ movement, I changed my ways,” he said. When he got married, he said, he did not think it beneath him to help out with the laundry, dishwashing, and the other tasks traditionally derided as women’s work.

Gradually, the 32-year-old farmer began spread-

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ing his newfound outlook. “Violence against women is still high here, including violence against wives,” said the man who now works with the Club for the Voice of Women (Sanggar Suara Perempuan—SSP), a non-profit that assists women and children victims of violence in South Central Timor.

Amos Talan is another such convert. This resident of Nunusunu village in Kualin subdistrict has also pronounced himself a ‘new man’.

“Since 2009, I have been going to the villages to run discussions on gender equality,” the 46-yearold farmer said.

Amos said, ‘walking the talk’ was key. At home, he said he always helped his wife with the laundry and dishwashing. “And when there is a guest, I am the one who makes the tea.” Sometimes, he pounds rice on the front lawn to make a show of his commitment to equality. “I do that on purpose, so that

PEOPLE ARE READY TO PARTISIPATE IN THE WORKSHOP ON NEW MEN MOVEMENT AT THE SANGGAR SUARA PEREMPUAN IN SOE, SOUTH CENTRAL TIMOR.

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Outreach THE SANGGAR SUARA PEREMPUAN TEAM IN A DISCUSSION WITH JOURNALISTS IN SOE.

people can see,” he said.

His four sons, he said, have learned to respect their womenfolk. “I taught them to not expect women to do eveything for them,” he said. “I tell them, ‘just do it yourself’.”

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YANDRI Ome and Amos Talan are two of a handful of men who have joined the New Men Movement that seeks to promote the idea of gender equality among men in South Central Timor.

The movement was launched six years ago when the SSP began to collaborate with Oxfam and another organisation named Rifka Annisa. At the time the Alliance of New Men was spreading in Indonesia.

“Since it was a new approach, we first did capacity-building to understand the concept of ‘new men’, and to design a module,” said Juliana Ndolu, Oxfam’s coordinating partner for gender equality.

The SSP itself has long been involved in issues of anti-discrimination and against violence against women since 1992, when the organization was still called the Timor Women Forum.

According to John Bolla, head of the coordinating division for group organizing and advocacy, discrimination against women is not limited to the domestic sphere. “It occurs in education, in social affairs and in the economy, just to mention a few of other areas,” John said. The main reason, he said, was cultural resistance to change. “Here in South Central Timor people still cling strongly to patriarchy.”

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The practice of families paying a dowry for their sons to marry also creates a social system where women are treated poorly. Yandri said that once, when he reprimanded a friend for beating his wife, the friend’s rejoinder was that it was his ‘right’ because he had ‘paid the bride-price’.

SSP noted that in 2015, there were 113 cases of violence against women. Of that figure, 53 were cases of sexual violence (47 percent), 28 cases (25 percent) of domestic violence, and 22 cases (21 percent) of physical abuse. Many of the cases, however, went unreported.

In addition to a patriarchal culture, poverty plays a big role in the perpetuation of gender inequality.

“The per capita income is just Rp6 million,” South Central Timor Regent Paul V.R. Mella said. The average Indonesian income last year, meanwhile, is Rp41 million.

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THE Sanggar Suara Perempuan was only able to establish seven groups in the village out of the 230 villages and kelurahan (urban village subdivisions) in South Central Timor. “On average, one group consists of 20 men,” John Bolla said.

Two-hour discussion sessions were held on what constitutes being a good husband. “How can you be a role model if you beat up your wife and get drunk?” John said. “We spread the notion that a real man does not commit violence.”

Attracting men to the program was not easy. “The program challenges their comfort zone, where they have lived for a long time ,” John explained.

AMOS TALAN (CENTER), AN ACTIVIST OF THE NEW MEN MOVEMENT IN NUNUSUNU VILLAGE, SOUTH CENTRAL TIMOR.

PHOTOS: TEMPO/PURWANI DIYAH PRABANDARI

YANDRI OME AT THE SANGGAR SUARA PEREMPUAN OFFICE.

Indeed, opposition was never far away. Amos, for example, said neighbors often ridiculed him for pounding the corn, even deriding his children for allowing him to ‘stoop so low’.

However, he said the new consciousness had taken root and the men were not going to be so easily derailed by their detractors.

The group has tried various strategies to attract new members, one of which was to recruit young people from churches and other organizations.

“We want them to have the information before they get married,” John said.

Another strategy was approaching motorcycletaxi drivers and bus drivers. “The thinking was they could help spread the information to their passengers,” said Filpin Taneo-Therik, SSP deputy director.

Success, however, was limited in the early days, Filpin said. Informal discussions on a broader range of issues became the strategy of choice. “The important thing is that the discussion materials can include anything,” Filpin said.

Fortunately for the SSP, the South Central Timor district government decided to support the movement. “Child protection and gender equality became a special focus,” said Paul Mella, who is married to SSP Director Rambu Atanau Mella.

The South Central Timor government and the regional House of Representatives (DPRD) have passed several regulations in line with the SSP mission.

“For example, a regulation has been passed for the protection of women and children, and also one on reproductive health,” Paul Mella said.

All things considered, gender-equality promotion among South Central Timor men has grown by leaps and bounds, with 13 groups currently active in the region.

Women have begun to reap the benefits. “There are some women who are now ready to run for the position of village head,” John said, proving that women now play a more visible role in public affairs. In the South Central Timor DPRD, for example, women account for 12.5 percent of sitting lawmakers. ■ APRIL 24, 2016 |

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Outreach MARIANA AMIRUDDIN, COMMISSIONER, NATIONAL COMMISSION ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

ESIDES its increasing numbers, violence against women is taking on a broader pattern. The National Commission Against Violence Against Women has observed this change through several of their studies. The Commission noted that violence happens in households as well as within the general public.

For example, in 2015, some 321,752 cases of violence—mostly physical—against women were recorded in people’s homes. This differed from the previous year when in addition to the physical, there was also psychological violence. In communities, sexual violence is still predominent: about 61 percent out of 5,002 cases.

Mariana Amiruddin, who is chairperson of the Public Participation SubCommission of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), said that the movement to bring change and gender justice in Indonesia must keep on upgrading itself. It should, at the same time, be balanced by non-discriminatory state policies. “Without a movement for change, gender justice is not likely to happen,” said Mariana. Two weeks ago, she spoke to Tempo English reporter Isma Savitri on the subject. Excerpts:

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What exactly are the causes of violence against women in Indonesia?

Gender injustice happens because of our culture. Men and women initially started on an equal basis, but culture forced them to become unequal. Men also felt pressured by a society which forces them to be ‘superman’.

What do you mean?

Men also undergo negative experience due to this gender injustice. As small boys, some of them may have been victims of violence in their homes, or witnessed their fathers hitting their mothers.

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This doesn’t benefit anyone.

Will this create a movement of men protecting women?

Yes, but we also notice that those involved in such movements are mostly artists, or they are men who no longer work and are no longer allpowerful.

We came across a group of men who were neither artists nor unemployed in the island of Timor.

Judging by recent years, men are indeed getting more involved in the efforts to fight violence against women. This is a reflection of men’s conviction that this is their problem too.

What is your view about this movement?

So long as it’s not an exclusive program, involving only men, of course it should be good, because the final objective is a feminist movement.

Which places in Indonesia have the highest number of violence against women?

The accepted cause of violence is still the same, and that’s the patriarchal system. But the traits differ from one region to the next. According to our data, Eastern Indonesia has the highest cases of violence against women.

In bigger cities like Jakarta, women have begun to advance and oppose patriarchy.

So, what would be the right strategy to fight it?

The male approach is needed but women’s empowerment should not lag behind. The two should move together. There are still many illiterate women who only have low-level education.

But aren’t there many organizations already working on that?

Non-governmental organizations supporting women face difficulties because they are always running out of funds. My own critical view is that the men’s movement should never be allowed to betray the women’s movement. ■

TEMPO/ADRI IRIANTO

GENDER INJUSTICE IS A LOSS FOR EVERYONE