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Women strive for themselves, their families
For generations, women in the village of Sungai Namang in South Kalimantan’s Hulu Sungai Utara regency have learned and passed down the traditional craft of weaving mats from purun (grey sedge grass)
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span>For generations, women in the village of Sungai Namang in South Kalimantan’s Hulu Sungai Utara regency have learned and passed down the traditional craft of weaving mats from purun (grey sedge grass).
But much of the grass was burned down in 2015 during Indonesia’s worst haze crisis.
Government data show that at least 2.6 million hectares of land in Sumatra and Kalimantan — an area 4.5 times the size of Bali — was burned from June to October 2015. By October 2015, more than 100,000 ha of land were destroyed in each of eight provinces suffering most under the massive forest and land fires.
The weaving tradition has been passed down for generations in Sungai Namang, with female villagers learning from their mothers to create the mats they later sell to help them meet their daily needs.
Yeni Kusuma, a village facilitator from Sungai Namang, said that, as the village’s peatland areas were continuously shrinking, the women relied increasingly on purun for a living.
“Now, whatever their main job may be, most women in the village make purun mats for a living. So, when the forest and land fires occurred, it was devastating, because the women lost their purun. With the degraded peatland, they don’t have many options to earn a living and support their families,” Yeni told The Jakarta Post after a discussion on Tuesday.
She said a group of facilitators, along with the villagers, was gradually replanting purun. The group also taught the women in the village to make the grass more sustainable for the long term.
The discussion highlighted the important role of women in issues surrounding peatland.
It was held by Jurnal Perempuan Foundation and civil society group Partnership for Governance Reform (Kemitraan) to commemorate the United Nations' International Day of Rural Women, which honors the role of rural women on Oct. 15 each year.
It recognizes rural women's importance for enhancing agricultural and rural development worldwide.
“When we are talking about climate change, we are not only talking about climate, we are also talking about food security for families. And women play an important role in this regard,” said Myrna A. Safitri, the Peatland Restoration Agency’s (BRG) undersecretary for education for campaigns, participation and partnerships.
Myrna said the agency had been trying to engage women in every peatland restoration program as well as encourage them to understand and provide insight on the programs and decisions.
However, challenges often emerge in the field, as those involved are mostly men, while women are still reluctant to join the program.
“That’s why I hope women that join the programs, both the participants and the facilitators, will empower each other and have strong bonds, so that slowly but surely, we can together overcome the patriarchy wall,” Myrna said.
Catharina Indirastuti, a gender specialist with Kemitraan, said gender inequality in tackling peatland ecosystem degradation was not only bad for the women but also their children.
She said that, although empowering women economically was pivotal for gender mainstreaming, it was also pivotal to improve other aspects of empowerment.
“It is true that by earning money from their business women will be empowered, but when the poor power relation at home doesn’t change or when regulations and infrastructure in the village don’t change, things will be the same, or maybe actually add to the burden of the women,” she said.
Therefore, Catharina said, it was crucial for women to also take part in village meetings and policies to improve power relations. The results would be beneficial, as they could create villages that are friendly for women and children.
“Gender equality is not something that suddenly appears. We have to fight for it. More women should be involved on watching over policy-making and supporting gender mainstreaming,” said Misiyah, a director at women's rights advocacy group Institut KAPAL Perempuan.
