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usye Hanarti wears a nostalgic smile while remembering her experience in 1998, when she joined her aunt, the late senior journalist and activist Siti Latifah Herawati Diah, in a movement for Indonesian women’s political rights.

Alongside other journalists and activists in women’s rights movement Gerakan Perempuan Sadar Pemilu (GPSP), she joined Herawati during the reform era to promote female empowerment before the 1999 general election.

“Together we would carry out campaigns for women not to merely follow their husbands [in election voting] and to be independent voters,” Nusye, 66, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

“My aunt was active in promoting women’s rights in politics. She always said ‘at least 30 percent of parliament should be women’. It was not an easy goal,” she recalled.

Herawati, one of the first board members of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) established in 1998, passed away in September at age 99 due to a blood clot.

She is one among six late Indonesian women’s rights activists who were given the Women Human Rights Defenders Awards by the government and Komnas Perempuan on Thursday for their inspiring work in defending women’s rights and empowerment throughout their lives.

This year’s award recipients also include Islamic figure Lily Zakiyah Munir, women empowerment activist Zohra Andi Baso, Papuan anthropologist Mientje DE Roembiak, education campaigner Darmiyanti Muchtar and activist Theresia Yuliawati Sitanggang.

Officials from the Law and Human Rights Ministry and the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) handed the awards to the activists’ families, as part of the global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence Campaign from Nov. 25 to Dec. 10.

Komnas Perempuan chairman Azriana said the awards were presented to remind the nation that these women fought to promote gender equality.

“They never once asked to be awarded, but they dedicated their lives to help Indonesian women,” Azriana said with teary eyes.

Lily, a Muslim women’s rights activist, was the director of the Jakarta-based Center for Pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) and Democracy Studies, which campaigned for equality for men and women in politics. She was listed as one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World in 2009, published by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.

Zohra was a journalist and activist who established a number of NGOs in South Sulawesi, including Forum Pemerhati Masalah Perempuan. She made it on the list of candidates for Nobel Peace Prizes in 2005, among 977 women from 153 countries.

A senior anthropology lecturer at the Political Science Faculty of Cendrawasih University, Papua, Mientje has promoted women’s roles in politics. She once held the chairperson position of Women Working Group (Pokja) in the Papuan People Assembly (MRP).

As a Komnas Perempuan member, Theresia, who died young at 33 in 2014, was an activist who campaigned against sexual violence. She was an initiator of the Sexual Violence Bill, which is about to begin deliberation by the House of Representatives.

Yanti, who had been part of Indonesia’s women’s movement since the 1980s, was the director of Kapal Perempuan or the Women’s Ship Institute, where she worked for alternative education, targeting adults in disadvantaged and marginalized communities.

Yanti passed away in 2015 after a long battle with cancer.

During the commemoration of the 17th anniversary of Komnas Perempuan in 2015, the commission listed a number of women’s rights advocates who had passed, including Zohra who died in 2015.

Komnas Perempuan has been discussing with government officials about creating a medical plan that could be accessed by activists who are prone to illnesses, including reproductive cancer.

“These women, like many other citizens, may be using BPJS Kesehatan [Healthcare and Social Security], however, we want them to have easy access to medical care because they work as human rights defenders,” Azriana said.