Written by: Simone
Salam. Indonesia adalah salah satu tempat paling ajaib di dunia.
Indonesia is a beautiful paradise with a long, rich history and a booming tourist industry. As is often the case with tourist destinations, the social justice issues impacting folks in Indonesia are, typically, hidden from public view.
Gender-Based Violence
According to Indonesia’s National Commission on Violence Against Women, 1 in 3 women aged 15-64 have experienced physical and/or sexual violence perpetrated by a partner or non-partner at some point in their lifetime. Indonesia has a long history of not taking issues related to gender-based violence seriously. For instance, it took the conviction of a teacher who raped thirteen students for Indonesia to finally pass sexual violence reform. This demonstrates the need for collaborative efforts to support organizations doing the work on the ground in Indonesia. GFG does extensive work around gender-based violence against women and girls.
Trafficking
Due to too many underlying reasons to cite here, Indonesia has an alarmingly high rate of child trafficking. There are an estimated 70,000-80,000 victims of child sex trafficking in Indonesia. Despite this alarmingly high number, Indonesian authorities arrested only 132 traffickers in 2019. “Up to 30% of Indonesia’s commercial sex workers are female victims of child sex trafficking. Underage girls represent most child sex trafficking victims, but boys are also at high risk.” GFG engages in policy and advocacy work against child sex trafficking and other issues impacting youth in crisis, and we are ready to work with agencies, organizations, and individuals in Indonesia to tackle this issue.
Maternal Mortality
According to UNFPA, “With 189 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births (2020 Population Census), Indonesia has a substantially higher Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) compared to other countries in Southeast Asia. Maternal and newborn health is lacking in Indonesia, where a yearly average of 63% of women in poverty receive assistance from skilled health personnel” (State of Health Inequality: Indonesia, 2017). In a February 2021 study, researchers commented: “The MMR indicates that there is still substantial room for improvement. Access to skilled attendants for antenatal care and delivery does not necessarily lead to a good health outcome unless the actual health care is of optimal quality [7,15]. The scope for improvement lies especially in the organization and management of the healthcare system. Despite attempts to improve, access to reliable healthcare remains a challenge for expecting mothers, and those with the lowest socioeconomic status endure the ferocious brunt of it all. Poor conditions at health facilities are another issue, and improvement is stagnated due to low priority by the government. Further, many health facilities lack trained personnel and poor policies, along with worse implementation. Global Foundation For Girls works to ensure that birthing persons in Indonesia can get access to trained and compassionate health professionals so that they can have a more idealized pregnancy and post-delivery encounter, rather than face a traumatizing or even deadly experience. One organization working on the ground in Bali and Aceh to address issues of birth justice is Yayasan Bumi Sehat, a potential GFG partner (with your support)!
Minoritized Populations
LGBTQ+ folks, gender-non-conforming folks, women, and young girls in Indonesia face many legal challenges and prejudices. Most recently, in December of 2022 the Indonesian Parliament passed a new criminal code that outlaws sex outside of marriage. This move violates international human rights laws and puts people at risk of criminal prosecution. According to Human Rights Watch, “Articles in the new code violate the rights of women, religious minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, and undermine rights to freedom of speech and association.” Folks in same-sex relationships are not permitted to marry in Indonesia. This move also supports the criminalization of abortion, criminalizes the distribution of information about contraception to children, and according to HRW, “also negatively impacts women’s and girls’ ability to protect their health, make informed choices about their bodies and having children, and can lead to unwanted pregnancies which can affect a range of rights, including ending a girl’s education, contributing to child marriage, as well as putting women and girls’ health and lives at risk.” That is just the tip of the iceberg. Massive movement building is needed on the ground and GFG is ready to support local, grassroots, organizations doing the work.
Suppression of Human Rights Defenders
Folks on the ground working to defend basic human rights are being persecuted and would greatly benefit from working with organizations like GFG which can provide funding, training, and technical assistance to continue doing the work.
Addressing Indonesia’s widespread social justice issues need not be intimidating when one collaborates with an experienced organization. That is the goal of the work that Global Foundation for Girls does on the ground to address many of the issues that folks are experiencing in Indonesia. We can create a world, both locally and globally, where we all can live free from violence, intimidation, and oppression, but it takes a collaborative effort, it takes time, resources, and radical imagination. We cannot do this work without you.