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Mandatory hijabs have far-reaching consequences for Indonesian women: HRW
Human Rights Watch has said the hijab remains mandatory female attire in various institutions in Indonesia, posing psychological and even physical risks to the women compelled to wear it.
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Students learn in person at SD 6 Lapai state elementary school in Padang, West Sumatra, on Jan. 4. (Antara/Iggoy el Fitra)
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uman Rights Watch has said the hijab remains mandatory female attire in various institutions in Indonesia, posing psychological and even physical risks to the women compelled to wear it, and has urged policymakers to ensure that the garment is made or kept optional throughout the country.
In a report titled I Wanted to Run Away: Abusive Dress Codes for Women and Girls in Indonesia, Human Rights Watch presented 142 in-depth interviews with schoolgirls, parents, guardians, female civil servants, educators, government officials and women’s rights activists conducted from 2014 to early 2021.
“The focus is on discriminatory regulations that force women and girls to comply with dress codes, especially those that mandate wearing a jilbab, or hijab or headscarf,” said Human Rights Watch’s Elaine Pearson on Thursday. “These policies put pressure on women and girls to wear the jilbab in schools, the civil service and at government offices.”
The report details what the headscarf has symbolized in the history of the nation besides its role as a symbol of piety.
The researchers said regulations based on sharia law had become more widespread in the country. The process started Aceh, the only province where sharia law may be extensively imposed, because of its special autonomy status.
Read also: Cover up: Indonesian women pressed to wear Islamic headscarves
Over two decades, sharia-inspired regulations started to appear at the provincial and local levels, often in the name of public order.
