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More female representation needed to protect women's rights
Talking heads: A man walks past a banner promoting Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislative candidate William Yani in Jakarta on Tuesday
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Talking heads: A man walks past a banner promoting Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislative candidate William Yani in Jakarta on Tuesday. The politicianâs unconventional promotional material features news stories containing his statements in newspapers to attract voters. (JP/P.J. Leo) (PDI-P) legislative candidate William Yani in Jakarta on Tuesday. The politicianâs unconventional promotional material features news stories containing his statements in newspapers to attract voters. (JP/P.J. Leo)
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span class="caption" style="width: 498px;">Talking heads: A man walks past a banner promoting Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislative candidate William Yani in Jakarta on Tuesday. The politician's unconventional promotional material features news stories containing his statements in newspapers to attract voters. (JP/P.J. Leo)
A coalition of women's rights activists, under the umbrella of Indonesia Beragam, is calling for more female representation in the House of Representatives in order to tackle issues faced by women.
Indonesia Beragam members cited various problems, including the high maternal mortality rate. According to the 2013 Indonesian Demographic and Health Survey (SDKI), there were as many as 359 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2012.
According to Indonesia Beragam, this issue is interconnected with child marriages, difficult access to reproductive medical services, lack of education and discrimination against women stemming from laws and regulations.
'Resolving these issues must start from women themselves,' Maeda Yoppy of the Association for the Support of Female Entrepreneurs (ASPPUK) told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
In order to address these problems, Indonesia Beragam has been promoting the 10-point political agenda of the Women's Movement for a Diverse Indonesia to various political parties, especially their female legislative candidates.
The 2009 general election saw the highest percentage in Indonesian history of female lawmakers taking up sets at the House of Representatives, with 18 percent of 560 seats.
According to the General Elections Commission (KPU), of the 6,607 candidates vying for the 560 House seats this year, 37 percent, or 2,467, are women.
Although this percentage may be impressive, Missiyah of the Kapal Perempuan (Women's Ship) Institute said there was still a lack of political education among both male and female legislative candidates.
'This may be especially true for female candidates because some parties just pick them to meet the 30 percent quota requirement to qualify for the elections, and so their political education is not prioritized. If a female legislative candidate seems unfit for the job, we shouldn't laugh at the candidate but at the party,' she said.
In order to counteract this, Indonesia Beragam has been trying to educate female candidates by providing as much information as it possibly can. This includes providing support and informing them of issues that concern women.
On March 7, Indonesia Beragam invited female legislative candidates from various political parties to sign its 10-point political agenda declaration. According to Maeda, six female legislative candidates ' from the Indonesian Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Nasdem Party, the Gerindra Party, the Golkar Party, the Crescent Star Party (PBB) and the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI) ' signed the declaration.
'However, signing it is only one step. We realize that we must still monitor their commitment throughout the elections, and especially if they do get elected to the House,' she said.
Dwi Rubiyanti Khalifah of the Asian Muslim Action Network (AMAN) in Indonesia added that apart from approaching political parties, Indonesia Beragam had also approached PDI-P presidential candidate Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo with the 10-point political agenda.
Although he is the only presidential candidate to have been approached so far, Rubiyanti said other candidates would eventually be approached as there was uncertainty as to which candidate could be expected to follow through with the agenda.
According to Maeda, one of the reasons for approaching multiple political parties and their candidates is because Indonesia Beragam has come to realize that it would be extremely difficult for women's rights groups to achieve their goals without the cooperation of political parties.
'Political participation is not merely voting every five years. Society is not disconnected from the political parties because the quality of our political parties reflects the situation in society,' she said.
However, Missiyah noted that her organization's job was not done once the elections were over. It plans to use its 10-point political agenda as a tool to monitor the next government to make sure it keeps its promises.
'We are also working on creating more awareness among the general public to help us in monitoring our politicians for the next five years,' she said. (fss)
