Women in Indonesia
Encyclopedia
The changes in Indonesia
n society that are affecting the roles of women in Indonesia today include increased modernization
and globalization
, better education
, and advancing technology
(in particular communication
s technology). Many women in Indonesia choose to reside in cities instead of staying in townships to perform agricultural work because of personal, professional, and family-related necessities, and economic requirements. These women are moving away from the traditional dictates of Indonesian culture, wherein women act simply and solely as wives and mothers. At present, the women of Indonesia are also venturing actively into the realm of national development, and working as active members of organizations that focus and act on women's issues
and concerns.
sanctuaries" that provide "free prenatal care, birthing services and medical aid", such as the Yayasan Bumi Sehat (Healthy Mother Earth Foundation) health clinics established by Robin Lim, an American
midwife, in 2003. Such 24-hour nativity havens, mostly located in Bali and Aceh, help Indonesian women to escape the common practice of private hospitals in Indonesia that entails detaining newborn infants until medical bills are fully remunerated by the birth mothers.
s in manufacturing businesses. In the 1990s, some women in Indonesia, including adolescents and the homeless, resorted to engage in employment as sex worker
s and housemaids due to financial hardship. Some of the women who were forced into such work opted to go abroad, into countries such as Saudi Arabia
and Thailand
. Some have since become victims of torture, sexual abuse, murder, illegal detention, rape, sodomy, and other forms of sexual assault. Health-wise, as a consequence of becoming prostituted by human traffickers, some have contracted HIV
, AIDS
and other sexually transmitted disease
s.
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n society that are affecting the roles of women in Indonesia today include increased modernization
Modernization
In the social sciences, modernization or modernisation refers to a model of an evolutionary transition from a 'pre-modern' or 'traditional' to a 'modern' society. The teleology of modernization is described in social evolutionism theories, existing as a template that has been generally followed by...
and globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
, better education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, and advancing technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
(in particular communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
s technology). Many women in Indonesia choose to reside in cities instead of staying in townships to perform agricultural work because of personal, professional, and family-related necessities, and economic requirements. These women are moving away from the traditional dictates of Indonesian culture, wherein women act simply and solely as wives and mothers. At present, the women of Indonesia are also venturing actively into the realm of national development, and working as active members of organizations that focus and act on women's issues
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
and concerns.
History
Health and welfare
Many pregnant women in Indonesia do not have the financial capability to pay for normal hospital deliveries and birthing by Caesarian section, because of disproportionate salaries and medical expenses. Thus, these women require the support and assistance of "birthHome birth
A home birth in developed countries is an attended or an unattended childbirth in a non-clinical setting, typically using natural childbirth methods, that takes place in a residence rather than in a hospital or a birth centre, and usually attended by a midwife or lay attendant with expertise in...
sanctuaries" that provide "free prenatal care, birthing services and medical aid", such as the Yayasan Bumi Sehat (Healthy Mother Earth Foundation) health clinics established by Robin Lim, an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
midwife, in 2003. Such 24-hour nativity havens, mostly located in Bali and Aceh, help Indonesian women to escape the common practice of private hospitals in Indonesia that entails detaining newborn infants until medical bills are fully remunerated by the birth mothers.
Employment
After a surge of foreign multinational investors began investing in Indonesia during the 1970s, many Indonesian women became the "prime workforce" and a source of cheap laborerSweatshop
Sweatshop is a negatively connoted term for any working environment considered to be unacceptably difficult or dangerous. Sweatshop workers often work long hours for very low pay, regardless of laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum wage. Child labour laws may be violated. Sweatshops may have...
s in manufacturing businesses. In the 1990s, some women in Indonesia, including adolescents and the homeless, resorted to engage in employment as sex worker
Sex worker
A sex worker is a person who works in the sex industry. The term is usually used in reference to those in the sex industry that actually provide such sexual services, as opposed to management and staff of such industries...
s and housemaids due to financial hardship. Some of the women who were forced into such work opted to go abroad, into countries such as Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. Some have since become victims of torture, sexual abuse, murder, illegal detention, rape, sodomy, and other forms of sexual assault. Health-wise, as a consequence of becoming prostituted by human traffickers, some have contracted HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
, AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
and other sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...
s.
See also
- Indonesian Womens Football TournamentIndonesian Womens Football TournamentIndonesian Women Football Tournament is the highest level of professional competition for women's football teams in Indonesia...
- Indonesia women's national football teamIndonesia women's national football teamThe Indonesia women's national football team represents Indonesia in international women's football; it is controlled by the Football Association of Indonesia . Despite football being one of the nation's favourite sports, Indonesia is not among the strongest teams in the AFC...
- Femina (Indonesia)Femina (Indonesia)Femina is an award winning women's magazine owned by Femina Group and the first women’s publication in Indonesia. It was first published in September 1972....
- Wanita IndonesiaWanita IndonesiaWanita Indonesia was a women's organization in Indonesia. It was the women's wing of the Partai Indonesia Raya . Wanita Indonesia was founded on September 11, 1953...
- GerwaniGerwaniGerwani was an organization of communist women active in Indonesia in the 1950s and 1960s...
- KebayaKebayaA Kebaya is a traditional blouse-dress combination worn by women in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Burma, Singapore, southern Thailand. It is sometimes made from sheer material and usually worn with a sarong or batik kain panjang, or other traditional woven garment such as ikat, songket with a...
Further reading
- Poverty Reduction and Social Development Division. Poverty and Social Development Paper No. 1, Sociolegal Status of Women in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand, Asian Development Bank
- Robinson, Kathryn May and Sharon Bessell. Women in Indonesia: Gender, Equity and Development, Indonesia Assessment Series, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2002, 284 pages
- 2 men, 2 women caned in Indonesia for sex offenses, The Jakarta Post, May 05, 2011