3.8 Pursuit of incremental change in attitudes, not rights enforcement

3.8 PURSUIT OF INCREMENTAL CHANGE IN ATTITUDES, NOT RIGHTS

ENFORCEMENT

By taking the politically-informed decision to let program strategy be led by locally legitimate waria activists seeking incremental improvements, the program was not as forceful on rights issues as some would like.

The program achieved some notable successes in increasing social inclusion for waria and challenging negative stereotypes. However, it generally did so through an incremental approach that in some ways avoided direct confrontation with many of the negative perceptions and biases that affect waria. This meant choosing to challenge perceptions on a small scale, through direct engagement at the individual, household and community levels, rather than pursuing more aggressive strategies to assert rights and demand enforcement.

This more moderate approach emerged from extensive engagement with local waria leaders. They believe that the best way to build community support is by providing services to the community, and at times limiting their outward expression of being waria through clothes and make-up. These ideas emerged from the thinking of a prominent and locally legitimate waria leader and her allies. But their advice to waria not to always dress as women could be viewed as discouraging them from fully embracing their gender identity, and is certainly controversial. The decision to not actively try to assert rights by pushing for government enforcement, and to focus on slower change, might also be seen as making concessions or compromises on rights that should be inalienable. These positions differ from those held by many in the waria and LGBT movement nationally, however they have been positively received by waria in many other communities who have heard about the Banjarmasin case at shared learning events. Some of the approaches used in Banjarmasin are now, to some extent, being replicated by waria in the other locations.46

The establishment of Forum Waria Peduli – a network among the six waria associations in the program locations – is envisioned as the beginning of a countrywide movement, built up from the regions.47 This may complement the existing waria (and LGBT) movement in Indonesia that, according to one expert, is currently in a ‘half dead’ situation.48 She sees the fact that IWB-Banjaraty has been relatively successful in achieving concrete positive results for the waria as a good entry point for expanding the movement.

So the strategic and politically-informed thinking to engage this locally legitimate movement has yielded some positive results. But it has also required an approach that could make some with more strident goals uncomfortable, even if these are only intended to be short-term measures.

46 To some extent, replication has happened in other locations where Program Peduli is being implemented, with the exception of Aceh. 47 Discussion with PKBI staff, 3 April 2017. 48 Phone interview with LGBT expert on 20 April 2017.