Women's voices magnified within the community

Kim Balmanno ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 03/06/2008 1:22 AM  |  Lifestyle

In a small room with pink grimy walls and body health posters plastered above arms' reach, four women sit crossed legged on the floor. All are survivors of domestic violence.

They are in the fishing village of Marlina, a slum area in North Jakarta. Two small children, a boy and a girl, sit in the women's laps and many more play in the narrow alleyway outside the room. Curious faces crowd the doorway, watching as the women recount their experiences.

The women belong to a community of paralegals; an initiative by the Legal Aid Organization of Indonesian Women's Association for Justice (LBH APIK). They are currently trialing nine posko (outreach centers) throughout Jakarta, with substantial success.

"Empowered women have improved relationships," said Herda Yati, 35, one of the paralegals from Kampung Elektro (Electro Village) in North Jakarta. "Husbands are becoming softer, more romantic," she said. The other women agree.

The initiative resulted from the efforts of LBH APIK and Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, a prominent activist/lawyer, in lobbying the government for domestic violence legislation in 2004.

After the law had passed through parliament, the organization set about implementing systems to support the legislation. This included establishing grassroots networks to encourage open dialogue in society.

The organization built alliances and coalitions, carried out policy studies and collected data, distributed information and conducted public education seminars incorporating sexuality.

Four years on, and after stretching its budget and human resources, LBH APIK is well on the way to realizing its earlier potential.

"We launched the posko by informing the police and RT/RW (neighborhood heads) where the posko were located. We also socialized the 2004 law through village forums" said Cicih, one of two paralegals in Marlina.

"We have a good relationship with the police and they have respect for paralegals," said Titin Sumiyati, 37, from Pademangan posko in North Jakarta.

Titin oversees more than 1000 families in her area and said she had noticed a marked difference in community harmony since 2004.

"The public opinion here has changed. Now the men feel quite envious ... there are no organizations for them," she said.

Titin is also an aerobics teacher in Pademangan. She is a strong woman with considerable determination. Although she too has suffered from domestic violence, she finds being proactive about her situation has given her the strength to support others.

She said since becoming a paralegal, her relationship had improved.

"Relationships improve with better communication ... (my husband) is now a better husband and helps me handle cases by escorting me to the households and speaking to other husbands."

Eny Rochayati, 38, recalls the time when she heard her husband was cheating on her.

"I went to the RT and he said it was private. I argued ... that my issue was public, not just private .. that I was (actually) protected by the law," Eny said.

She said that most RT/RW now understand the law.

"We make an agreement with the husband and the wife and the RT/RW witnesses the contract," she said.

A tactic, which she said had proved to worked for the women, was intimidating their husbands by yelling outside the home.

"Husbands can now be arrested (for domestic violence) so we warn them, we yell 'you will get arrested'."

The women see it as their job to empower the victims of domestic violence and fight for their rights.

After attending a three-day training course with LBH APIK, the women then act as mediators and are able to advise other women on legal matters.

They are then introduced to the facilities they will use as paralegals, which include women's help desks at police stations, trauma centers, councilors, hospitals to access health services and safe houses for women. They are then able to practice in the community as posko paralegals, which are volunteer positions.

LBH APIK has found some of the problems conducive to domestic violence are cultural; such as the concept of a husband as the protector. This has built up a belief that violence committed by a husband is a sign of his love for his wife.

The traditional function of the husband as the head of the family and bread winner, and the wife as the housekeeper, LBH APIK reports, has also created economic dependence for the wives and children, making them more vulnerable to one or more of the four forms of domestic violence; physical, psychological, economic and sexual.

Before the introduction of paralegals, LBH APIK says, women didn't have a space to share their problems and suffered in silence, often in fear of public humiliation if their problems were aired. The challenge for these paralegals is to change public perceptions and the stigma attached to the victims of domestic violence.

LBH APIK indicate in their legislative advocacy paperwork that "the fact that divorce is allowed, but does not receive the blessing of God, has deterred women from taking legal action, even if they suffer from domestic violence" and "the internalization of the values that women have to always obey their husbands, including in sexual relations, shows that some Islamic beliefs have been counter productive in some circumstances".

"The propaganda started with Soeharto's domestication policy, which stipulated that the first duty of a woman was to be a good wife, good mother, educator, social worker and member of the community," said Ratna.

LBH APIK plans to open more posko in the future. But for now, as the sun sets on Merlina, the women prepare to leave the center with children in tow; their first priority still as a mother and housewife. Tomorrow is a new day, however, with new beginnings and new possibilities.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.