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Jokowi can do more to spur gender equality
Now that the self-acclaimed women’s rights defender has secured the presidency again, what will that mean for Indonesian women? What can we hope to see in another Jokowi era, especially with the emerging antifeminist movement in Indonesia? #opinion
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In consultation: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi discuss on the sidelines the 30th ASEAN Summit in Manila, the Philippines. (Courtesy of the Presidential Office/File)
D
uring the first presidential debate back in January, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo touted his image as a supporter of women’s empowerment, directly challenging his rival Prabowo Subianto about the lack of women in the latter’s Gerindra Party leadership and contrasting it with his own record as president with nine women in the Cabinet.
Jokowi had earlier reiterated the need for equal rights for women in education and employment, even committing himself to the global campaign as a “HeForShe” impact champion.
Now that the self-acclaimed women’s rights defender has secured the presidency again, what will that mean for Indonesian women? What can we hope to see in another Jokowi era, especially with the emerging antifeminist movement in Indonesia?
The identity and religious politics in the recent election also came with a conservative counterpart among Indonesian women. Just before the April 17, a viral movement called Indonesia Tanpa Feminis (Indonesia Without Feminism) emerged, dismissing feminism as a western idea incompatible with Islamic values.
Other conservative groups like the Family Love Alliance (AILA) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) have also become more vocal in rejecting the much-awaited sexual violence bill. These examples indicate a dark turn in Indonesia’s progress toward gender equality, not just imposed by men, but driven by conservative women. Now as Jokowi is transitioning to his second term, he must grapple with these new challenges to gender equality.
Indonesia actually already has a potentially powerful mechanism to address gender equality through public policy, yet it is very much underutilized. We have set out to conduct gender mainstreaming in national development since 2000. Gender mainstreaming also has been facilitated through the process of Gender-Responsive Planning and Budgeting (PPRG), developed since 2006 by the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), the Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry and the Finance Ministry. The PPRG should be implemented by all ministries and agencies and local governments.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the International Monetary Fund have hailed the PPRG as a good public policy approach to address gender discrepancy and inequality. It works by identifying gender gaps in society, developing solutions to address those gaps, and turning those commitments into fiscal commitments.
