Documentary voices citizens’ sufferings

“I feel that back then I was not listened to. I was not being responded to,” a man said on film.

The man, Kustoyo, was telling his story in a documentary titled Atas Nama (In the Name of). He was the husband of Lilis Lisdawati, a resident of Tangerang who became a victim of the region’s bylaw, which forbids women from being on the street after dark.

Kustoyo, a teacher, said in 2006 his wife was taken during a raid at 8 p.m. by public order officers because she was thought to be a prostitute. Lilis was just returning home from working at a restaurant.

“I asked them why they thought she was a prostitute. They said she wore revealing clothes, but she was wearing trousers and a collared top with a jacket,” he said.

Lilis’ name was under the spotlight for she fought the Tangerang administration. Although she had to endure a public trial session open, three days in prison, and jeering from her neighbors, she was adamant in asking the Tangerang mayor, Wahidin Halim, to apologize. The apology, however, never came and the bylaw was kept in place. One scene in the film had Kustoyo sitting by Lilis’ grave.

Ariani Djalal, who interviewed Kustoyo, said that Lilis’ death in 2008, two years after the arrest, was partly due to the pressure she had to endure during her time in prison, and onwards, when she fought against the administration. “When she was imprisoned she was stressed and experienced bleeding, as well as a miscarriage,” Ariani said.

Another source in the documentary, Keumalawati from Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD), said that she felt “limited” by the dress code regulations imposed in some parts of the province. Made by the National Commission on Violence against Women, the documentary was premiered on Wednesday in Jakarta.

“The movie is a visual interpretation of the commission’s monitoring on discriminative bylaws in the name of religion, morality and the desires of the majority,” Andi Yentriyani, the National Commission for Women’s Commissioner on Community Participation said before the screening. She said the documentary was made based on monitoring carried out in 16 regions and seven provinces from 2008 and 2009.

Atas Nama featured testimonies from those affected by the bylaws, such as Lilis, several women from NAD, as well as harassed and displaced followers of the Ahmadiyah sect, which is viewed by some Islamic organizations as heretic.

Asmawati, another source from NAD said she felt the bylaws limited women from achieving more in life in addition to problems such as poverty and lack of proper health-care. “I don’t think any woman likes being dictated on how she should dress. It goes against the nature of Aceh women who are used to making their own choices,” Sri Wahyuni, also from NAD, said.

Yuniyanti Chuzaifah, the commission chairwoman, said the documentary would become discussion material, along with the commission’s printed materials for policy makers as well as academicians. She stressed that the government should revoke the controversial bylaws.

“If this inequity persists it could lead to disintegration,” she said.

This year, the women’s commission recorded at least 154 bylaws seen as discriminating to women. Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Linda Amalia Sari Gumelar expressed the need for harmonization of gender equity building between the central and regional governments. She said the discriminative bylaws were being reviewed by the ministry.