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Jakarta Post

Editorial: Unequal progress

Noble mothers, wives and workers, with no troublesome demands — this is what Soeharto’s New Order wanted of its female citizens

The Jakarta Post
Thu, December 22, 2011

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Editorial: Unequal progress

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oble mothers, wives and workers, with no troublesome demands — this is what Soeharto’s New Order wanted of its female citizens. And every Dec. 22 has become the annual dismissal day of the New Order’s version of the historic Hari Ibu — originally the day in 1928 when dozens of women gathered for their first national congress. Under Soeharto, the meaning of ibu was no longer the neutral term for woman, but exalted motherhood within a submissive society.

Today’s women have returned Dec. 22 back to its roots, a momentum to collectively take stock of the progress of Indonesian society, regarding how it values its female half. Addressing this issue and its solutions remains important for the country’s progress; despite defensive arguments for Indonesia’s positive image, the death of hundreds of thousands of women related to childbirth and pregnancy, last estimated at 228 per 100,000 — one of the highest in Southeast Asia, continues to stare us in the face. Such facts are a stark reminder of the absence of basic facilities, such as good roads to enable women’s access to clinics, and glaring lack of basic awareness of women’s health in families and communities.

The latest World Bank report on women has clearly shown that while Indonesia’s women make up 52 percent of the labor market as of last year, they only receive 77 US cents for every dollar that men make. The bank’s coordinator of its East Asia and Pacific gender program, Andrew Mason, says one solution lies in the infrastructure — from access to clean water, negating the need for women to fetch water for hours, particularly in rural areas, to laws providing parental leave for both men and women. He says this would enable fathers and mothers to take turns in pursuing their careers and taking care of the children.

These two examples of indicators of women’s conditions — the maternal mortality rate and wage differences — are a few of many indicators of the country’s progress as a whole. How advanced is a nation when half its citizens lag behind? Parental leave for both mom and dad would be a good start. Many of us have grown up perceiving mother as the nagging parent, maybe because she spent too many long hours ensuring a spic and span household with the kids all bathed and well behaved by the time father gets home.

But getting policymakers to pay attention to issues like parental leave is only possible when they relate to such problems. Advocates for affirmative action have faced much hostility — but this was precisely the advocates’ goal, to have more female policymakers that would more likely relate to seemingly personal difficulties like simultaneously raising families and earning. National figures of women’s representation in executive and legislative bodies paint a heartening picture of progress, at least with currently 18 percent in the legislature.

Yet last month, the National Commission on Violence against Women reported that rape remains the most frequent violation against women, with 50 percent of almost 100,000 cases of sexual violence, as recorded in the last 13 years. Most perpetrators were relatives; another grim reminder that Indonesia cannot protect the confidence and security of each women in daily life.

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