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nce a staunch defender of the rights of women, Maria Ulfah Anshor is now busy with her current job: protecting their children.

Since 2010, the 51-year-old has been holding the prestigious position as the chairwoman of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), the main duty of which is to ensure the rights of children are met in this country.

Before 2010, the public only knew the bespectacled lady as a vocal woman activist who defended women’s rights and fought for gender equality.

She was once labeled as “the mother of abortion” or “the mother of migrant workers” by her colleagues in parliament for always bringing up those topics at every meeting during her two-year tenure that had begun by replacing a legislator from the National Awakening Party (PKB).

However, her label may now switch to “the mother of the migrant workers’ children” given the main focus of her current work.

When asked about her changing role, Maria explained that it was unplanned. Her life principle is to go with the flow, and she said she had no plan to get involved in the KPAI but support from friends had encouraged her to apply for the position.

“I was tempted because the issue is closely related to women’s issues,” she told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview at her office.

After complicated and lengthy selection procedures, Maria was finally appointed as the chairwoman of the KPAI for the 2010-2013 period.

When comparing the role with previous ones, the former chairwoman of Fatayat (young women’s organization part of the country’s largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama), said that her current role had positive and negative sides. Dealing with children forces her to work harder because they are more prone to violence than women but on the other hand, the issue is less complicated because Maria does not have to deal with a huge patriarchal system that she used to face in her fight for gender equality.

Despite having a relatively easier task, it does not mean Maria will stand for doing nothing because her in tray s piling up with issues related to creating a better future for Indonesian children.

Indonesia will celebrate children’s national day on July 23 but the current condition of its future generation is still far from being celebrated. The school drop out rate is still high, meanwhile cases of violence against children are on the increase.

“We found that these violent actions happen anywhere; by parents at home, at school, in the streets, public places or even at the hands of state,” Maria remarked.

To counter this systemic violence, Maria is rolling up her sleeves to apply a system building approach in KPAI’s programs. Maria cited KPAI’s struggle at the policy making level as one of the organization’s strategies to promote children’s rights.

One of the KPAI’s big achievements is initiating a revision of the child age in the new Child Court Law, from eight to 12 years.

Apart from organizational achievements, Maria has also received many awards in the past.

She received an award from the Centre for Election Reform as the Best Quality Women Legislative Candidate back in 2004 and in the same year she snatched the respected Saparinah Sadli Award for her research on abortion from an Islamic perspective. The latest was the Women of The Year Award from ANTV in the gender and social category in 2005.

Before she landed at the KPAI, she was busy in several organizations, including the Indonesian Family Planning Association. Despite her status as a hardworking woman with a busy schedule and a shining career, Maria remains a dutiful mother of her two children, Nida Ul Millah (21) and Ahmad Musyahid Husein (16).

Maria grew up as a student in Islamic boarding schools in Surakarta and Indramayu, her home town, and described the bond between her and her children to be quite strong due to her parenting approach that always involved her children in the dialogues.

“We’re always open with each other, including in discussing their clothes, for example,” elaborated the woman, who seemed to be able to juggle roles as career woman and mother at ease.

Not only that, she is also a lecturer at several universities and an author of various publications, including the best-selling book taken from her research on abortion. The book Abortion in the Islamic Perspective, has been reprinted for the third time by publishing company Kompas, according to Maria.

After graduating from a gender and women master’s program at the University of Indonesia, Maria is now pursuing a PhD at the same university with topic on migrant workers.

Besides taking in charge in the KPAI, she is also busy with Alimat, an organization of female Muslim thinkers, holding the position of secretary general.

The organization’s current focus is on endorsing the deliberation of the Gender Equality Law, which surprisingly received much opposition from conservatives.

“We want to show that this law is not against Islam or other religions because what we bring is universal principles,” she explained.

Her latest remarks, as well as her activities, continuously display her consistent devotion to the topic of gender.

“In everything I do, I always end up with women’s issue,” she confessed, smiling.

But that does not come accidentally, as Maria believes that women’s empowerment is the key to all, including for handling future generations.

“I am kind of obsessed with the woman issue, but after I’ve dealt with children, I understand the importance of women empowerment in parenting. Many problems [in children] can be solved through women empowerment,” she elaborated.

Maria said at the beginning of the interview that her life principle was to go with the flow but it seems that the stream always takes her back to the fight for women’s rights.