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The Jakarta Post
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The quality of life for women in Aceh has greatly
improved since the end of a three-decade separatist
conflict and the 2004 tsunami, which ravaged the
Islamic province, a study revealed Saturday.
"Women in Aceh now have better access to health and
education and can become decision-makers in the
family. The situation here is much better relative to
other provinces," Jean D'Cunha, director of the UN
Development Fund for Women's (UNIFEM) Regional Program
for Southeast Asia, told a seminar in Jakarta at the
announcement of the results of a study on gender
issues in Aceh.
The study shows that Acehnese boys and girls have
similar access to formal education, health services
and socio-political participation unlike before the
devastating disaster, thanks to the post-tsunami
reconstruction and rehabilitation programs.
D'Cunha said women currently make up 28 percent of
candidates vying for seats in local legislatures in
the April 9 general elections in Aceh.
"I am very pleased to note that, from the 1,054
legislative candidates in Aceh, more than 300 are
women. This means women in Aceh have more chance [to
get elected] than do women in any other province," she
said.
The results of the study, sponsored by the UNIFEM,
were published as Inong Aceh di Tanah Nusantara (Acehnese
women in lands of the archipelago) and written by
University of Indonesia sociologist Evelyn Suleeman.
"This book contains a lot of information about women
in Aceh and it needs implementation," Kuntoro
Mangkusubroto, head of the Agency for Reconstruction
and Rehabilitation (BRR) for Aceh and Nias, told the
same forum.
The study also details cases of discrimination and
abuse against Acehnese women.
"We found some surprising data. For instance, Acehnese
families prefer to enroll their boys at public schools
and their girls at Islamic schools or Islamic boarding
schools," Evelyn told The Jakarta Post after the
seminar.
Although families assumed it was better for their
daughters to attend Islamic schools, Evelyn said,
problems often emerged after their girls graduated.
"Many girls failed to get jobs because companies or
offices prefer to have employees who graduated from
state schools," she told the Post.
Other problems confronting Acehnese women include the
fact that many consider domestic violence to be a
"normal" practice.
"This is really unacceptable, but it is the reality I
found doing the research," Evelyn who researched the
study over two months said.
Raihan Putry, head of the women's empowerment and
child protection agency in the Aceh administration,
said Acehnese women also faced problems with the
patriarchic culture, as do women in other locales
across Indonesia.
"UNIFEM has funded Aceh's programs to promote gender
equality throughout Aceh regencies," she said.
Concepts of equality and access are not so
controversial but other words common elsewhere in the
country provoke contention here. Some people in the
province, especially Muslim clerics, oppose the use of
the word "gender" to cite one example.
"We have to change the term "gender" and use another
term to avoid conflicts among clerics," Raihan said.
Raihan said further Islamic law, sharia, could turn
into a problem if it was implemented "improperly".
"There is nothing wrong with the sharia laws. The
problem is people still have different perceptions on
this matter," Raihan said, adding that her agency is
trying to resolve the problems. (naf) |
