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Nurturing gender awareness through feminist journal
JP/Novia D
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JP/Novia D. Rulistia
Nazmiyah Sayuti has been a loyal reader of the feminist journal Jurnal Perempuan for a long time. She enjoys reading the discourse the journal offers and admires the philosophies on women that it upholds.
When the Jurnal Perempuan Foundation (JPF), which launched the journal, faced a crisis back in 2011, Nazmiyah wanted to help but could not do anything.
Three years later, her wish to help finally came true. In March, she became the executive director of JPF, replacing Mariana Amiruddin, who served as executive director and chief editor for the previous six years.
'It all feels natural to me. I have the same vision as the foundation regarding humanity's obligations, gender equality and gender mainstreaming,' she said during a recent interview at the foundation's office in South Jakarta.
Under her leadership, the JPF has prepared for significant changes that will strengthen its policy on women. The first thing was to keep improving the content of the 17-year-old journal so it can receive accreditation.
'In 2014, we're focusing on earning an accreditation from the Education and Culture Ministry, in the near future, we hope, so we've separated the tasks of the journal's executive director and chief editor,' Nazmiyah said.
The current chief editor is Nazmiyah's fellow women rights activist and feminist scholar, Dewi Candraningrum.
And to make the journal more accomplished, she said she would improve JPF's training and advocacy programs, which would become the bridge to creating the journals.
She said the foundation provides training every month by working together with universities, companies and non-profit organizations about gender awareness.
'We're helping the instructors in the institutions to make, say, modules on gender awareness that can help them improve women's participation and performance in their respective organizations,' Nazmiyah said.
Moreover, she said, they would also involve readers and donors of Jurnal Perempuan, called Sahabat Jurnal Perempuan (SJP), especially those living outside Jakarta.
'Many SJP members live in other regions and we're planning to hold training sessions there because the rapid urbanization that occurs there can impact women too,' she said.
By organizing the programs with people from various backgrounds, it is hoped that the team will be able to provide diverse topics for the journal, which was first released in 1996 and aims to support gender equality.
'Jurnal Perempuan is aiming high by holding on to the strong scientific journals that we have,' she said.
Nazmiyah's sheer determination to always stand up for women's rights was instilled in her when she was just a little girl.
She said children are innocent enough that they naturally voice their concerns when they are treated unfairly. But when they get older, Nazmiyah believes, they start to get the notion that women are often undermined due to social constructs in their community.
'Maybe I was also born a feminist. I've always seen everything from a gender perspective, since I was a kid, and I still have that characteristic today,' the 54-year-old said.
Nazmiyah was born and raised in Jakarta in an entrepreneurial family where she was taught that independence was an important value to lead to equality.
However, she said, women still had to face a double burden where they were told to be independent but had to take care of the house at the same time, while men were free from having to do house chores.
'Coupled with traditional or religious values which are not thoroughly understood, such equality becomes vague as it limits the development of all family members, especially women,' she said.
But it was not the only factor that made her seriously involved in women's issues. Her childhood friendships also played a great role in shaping her principles.
'I used to have a best friend, who, together with her mother and siblings, became the victim of her father's brutality. She quit junior high school, because she had to work as a waitress while serving male guests in a billiard house to make ends meet for the family,' she said.
'Where she is now, you can guess,' she added.
Nazmiyah was luckier than her best friend because she could continue her study, going to the US to study finance at the City University of New York and spending 13 years building a career in the stock market.
Having to witness lots of people be fired due to the rise and fall of companies on the stock market, she could no longer bear the psychological burden; she reached her threshold and quit.
'I was exhausted so I quit and wanted to work in the humanitarian sector. In 2005, I joined BRR [Aceh-Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency] and, after a while, I realized that the work was more difficult and more complex than in finance,' Nazmiyah said, laughing.
Her work in the region also allowed her to see how women there are still greatly undermined by men and society.
After eight years working in international development, focusing on management and public policy, she resigned. She then decided to focus on defending women's rights through the JPF.
'These experiences have made me eager to always implement a gender perspective, all the time and everywhere. Gender mainstreaming is in me,' said the avid gardener and mother of two sons.
Looking back at her life, Nazmiyah, the holder of a master's degree in public policy from the University of Indonesia (UI), said she is satisfied with who she is now. She has now set her eyes on goals she wants to accomplish together with the JPF.
'And now I just need to take one step forward to achieve it. This is my humanitarian work,' she said.
