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7
min read
Papuan Women: Oppressed by the State, Squashed by Culture
Writer
Okke Oscar
Published on
“For women survivors of violence in Papua, life is filled with prolonged trauma, disrupted reproductive health issues, loss of economic sources due to declining physical health, becoming homeless, and experiencing lifelong discrimination due to labeling as OPM sympathizers,” – Zandra Mambrasar, Coordinator of the Women’s Division of ELSAM Papua (quoted from matamatapolitik).
Papua and the violence occurring against it is a long list of overlooked folklore. Crucial issues regarding the livelihoods of the Papuan people are still thick with discrimination. From human rights issues, the exploitation of natural resources, to the lack of affirmative politics for indigenous Papuans in the strategic realms of economy and politics.
Not stopping there, if we examine more deeply, injustice, violence, and traumatic events do not only impact the Papuan society in general, but also specifically affect Papuan women. As if being victims of structural violence was not enough, these women in Papua also experience direct violence in their private spheres culturally. The 'pain' they carry, both physically and psychologically, certainly requires its own struggle to heal.
Generational oppression
Political violence and human rights violations in the land of the birds of paradise began during the military operation in 1952. The domino effect created has disrupted the economy and socio-cultural aspects of the indigenous Papuan people.
According to research conducted by Asia Justice Rights (AJAR) and the Papuan Women’s Working Group, 64 out of 170 indigenous Papuan women have experienced violence due to state policies or violence perpetrated by state apparatus. The research was conducted in Sorong, Biak, Jayapura, Keetom, Merauke, and Jayawijaya between 2013-2017.
Selviana Yolanda, one of the researchers from AJAR, revealed that the forms of violence faced by Papuan women include arbitrary detention, torture, attempted shootings, sexual violence, missing or killed husbands or family members, and the destruction of property. Worse still, there has been no consistent efforts from the state and civil society to rehabilitate and empower victims of state violence and human rights violations. The labeling as part of the OPM also attaches to them.
“Women who suffer torture, sexual violence that we found from the 70s and 80s or whose children were shot, tortured, and so on are still alive today. But they live in discrimination due to the stigma attached to them. There are social perceptions that they are not part of the state, the opposing side,” said Selviana.
The impact of losing a child due to a shooting by the authorities also affects Mama Douw, the mother of Pius Youw (19). She never imagined that December 9, 2014, would become the darkest day of her life.
“My heart is sad, my only son was shot dead like an animal,” said Mama Douw.
That day is remembered as the Paniai Tragedy. Four young men aged 17-18 were shot dead, and 21 others were injured as a result of the brutality.
The case experienced by Mama Douw and her son is indeed somewhat different. The four shooting victims, namely Pius Youw, Apinus Octovia Gobay, Yulian Yeimo, and Simon Degey, are the only sons in their respective families.
According to Yones Douw, the Coordinator of Monitoring and Investigation of Human Rights Violations from the Kingmi Church’s Department of Justice and Peace in the land of birds of paradise, according to local cultural views, when the only son in the family passes away, the legacy of the clan/name is no longer continued.
“This becomes a lifetime torment for the mothers who gave birth to them, because according to tradition, they are considered as women who are no longer useful,” he added, quoted from Elsam.
Four days after the shooting tragedy, Mama Douw and the families of the victims still had not received any justice.
Injustice seems to be a constant in the lives of the Papuan people, especially for its women.
Recently, on August 28, 2019, protests against racism in Surabaya and the situation in Nduga, Papua, erupted. All Papuan dormitory children participated in the demo without exception, including Arina Elopere Gwijangge, a Papuan woman and student at the Jaffray Theological College.
The protest took place in front of the Merdeka Palace with speeches and demands to the Indonesian government to punish the perpetrators of racism in Surabaya.
Three days later, Arina along with a friend and her younger sibling was arrested and taken to Metro Jaya Police.
In short, she was charged with treason. Arina was accused of holding the Morning Star flag with video evidence.
On April 24, 2020, the trial decision for Arina and her friends was conducted online. Arina and her friends were found guilty with a sentence of 8 to 9 months in prison.
Several human rights organizations, including Amnesty International Indonesia and Human Rights Watch stated that the decision was unjust, as Arina and the five Papuan political prisoners were merely expressing their opinions peacefully.
Another attempt to silence them again was perpetuated.
Fatal domestic violence
According to a press release from the National Commission on Violence Against Women in 2019, victims of conflict, especially Papuan women, have not yet been rehabilitated. Additionally, there have been no efforts to hold the perpetrators accountable.
The lack of protection for women human rights defenders causes the emergence of separatist stigma that obstructs civil and political rights. This ultimately has a detrimental impact on the rights, integrity, and mobility of human rights activists.
Worse, the conflict of violence that Papua women experience is not only perpetrated by the state, but also affects them in domestic realms.
“Every day my mother wakes up at 3 in the morning, cooks, and puts food on the table, then goes to the market to sell. After returning from the market, my husband forces me to have sex. Even if I am tired, I just comply, if not, I will get hit,” complains Mama Orpa.
This narrative may be often heard and also happens in our surroundings. In Papua, cases of violence against women and children are quite high. However, out of the many cases, only about 10 percent reach the legal process.
The majority of cases are domestic violence (DV) and rape.
Based on data from the Integrated Service Center for the Protection of Children (P2TPA) of Papua Province, in 2015 there were 314 cases of violence that occurred.
According to Anna Serpara, Head of the P2TPA Papua Center, in general, cases of violence against women occur in households. Husbands beat their wives for various reasons, such as being drunk and family issues.
Not only DV, according to the police, the highest rape cases also occurred in 2016 in Papua Province. In Merauke, there were 97 cases, followed by Timika, and then Jayapura.
Even research conducted by the Institute of Science and Technology (LIPTEK) Papua shows that violence against women and children in Papua Province is increasing.
The Chairperson of Liptek, Marlina Flassy, stated that in 2017, incidents of violence against children and women in Papua recorded 98 cases.
This number skyrocketed in 2018 to 331 cases committed by men and 219 by women. The research was conducted over three months, from September to December 2018, with a total of 480 respondents spread across Nabire, Asmat, Jayawijaya, and Jayapura City.
Marlina stated that her institution also found cases of husbands abusing their wives for not being given money to buy alcoholic drinks.
Moreover, violence is triggered by the understanding that wives are uneducated and thus unable to contribute to household progress. So far, said Marlina, cases of violence against children and women are rarely resolved through legal channels.
“This is evidenced by the fact that the majority of cases of violence against women, especially wives, are resolved through family-based means. While a small portion is resolved through police and customary law,” said Marlina.
Cases of violence against Papuan women seem to never find a solution. After being resolved through family means, usually the husbands repeat their acts of violence again. This makes the wives submissive and only able to accept the situation.
It is appropriate that the narrative of women regarding the oppression they face needs to be amplified. Because allowing them to fight alone in their resistance is also a form of perpetuating violence itself.
Source:
https://jubi.co.id/menguak-wajah-kekerasan-terhadap-perempuan-papua/
https://www.matamatapolitik.com/nestapa-perempuan-papua-dan-mangkirnya-jokowi-editorial/
https://tirto.id/pemudi-papua-dihukum-makar-nasib-tapol-papua-maluku-di-indonesia-fmao
Written by Okke Oscar
Photo by Vika Cartier
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Meskipun angka saksi ini sangat tinggi, kenyataannya ada banyak juga saksi yang memilih diam. Mengapa demikian?
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Menjadi Saksi yang Berani Beraksi
Kamu juga bisa menjadi saksi yang berani beraksi. Tapi, sebelum itu, ada hal yang lebih penting untuk diutamakan, yakni keamanan dan keselamatan diri.
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Just Pretend to Be Good: About the Well-being of Lecturers in Indonesia
Lecturers so far seem to have no problems, maybe it’s because we are in denial. We pretend to be okay. So it’s like (we need) awareness that we are not okay, awareness that something needs to change, awareness that we are the working class who are very likely to be oppressed in our work fulfillment relationships.” – Nabiyla Risfa Azzati, representative of the Lecturer Welfare Research Team (2023)
The teaching profession, which is considered promising, does not guarantee worker welfare. A survey from the Lecturer Welfare Team shows that there are still lecturers who are dissatisfied with their salaries. This research was released in commemoration of Labor Day and National Education Day 2023.
Survey by the Lecturer Welfare Research Team (UGM-UI-Unram, 2023) shows that 42.9% of lecturers earn below Rp3 million. About 35% of them feel that their monthly income does not match their workload and qualifications as lecturers. Moreover, nearly one-third of respondents reported spending monthly living costs of Rp3-5 million.
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The representative of the Lecturer Welfare Research Team, Nabiyla Risfa Azzati, stated that this research shows the fact that many lecturers are not prosperous. The labor law lecturer at UGM noted that more than 40% of lecturers earning below Rp3 million is a red flag.
“This speaks about a profession that on one hand requires very high qualifications to enter, therefore its barrier is very high, while on the other hand, this profession also becomes the backbone of knowledge creation,” emphasized Nabiyla when met by the Never Okay Project (NOP) team.
Issues of Lecturer Welfare Rarely Discussed
Nabiyla revealed that the welfare of lecturers is rarely raised. This is why this research was conducted: to make this issue mainstream so that the parties concerned can be more open and acknowledge that there are problems.
“Because if we can acknowledge that there is a problem, we can start from there, we can look for solutions together. If we don’t even admit there’s a problem, it’s very difficult, right?” she said.
Nabiyla realizes that discussions about salaries are still considered taboo, especially for the teaching profession, which is considered noble and carries a certain social status. She also acknowledges that it is not difficult to find prosperous lecturers. However, that does not mean we should turn a blind eye to the 42.9% of respondents who earn less than Rp3 million.
“If my life is used as an example, lecturers are fine. But there are many other lecturers who are not okay,” she said.
Lecturers No Longer an Attractive Career Choice
The results of this research also seem to answer an assumption that being a lecturer is no longer an attractive choice. “How can we attract quality individuals to work in a profession that in its early stages cannot provide welfare. Like it’s impossible,” she said.
Nabiyla also mentioned the high resignation rate from CASN (Civil Service Candidates) lecturers. This indicates that something is wrong.
“This actually shows that there’s something wrong, we do not value people who actually want to dedicate their time to knowledge creation in Indonesia,” she explained.
Read also: Violence Against Journalists: From Sexual to KBGO
Ideal Salary Standards for Lecturers
Discussing ideal salaries for lecturers is quite complicated. This is because the benchmark for fair wages in Indonesia refers to the minimum wage, which in this context is the standard of Decent Living Needs (KHL). However, this context is considered less suitable when talking about lecturer salaries.
“Why? Because first, the barrier to becoming a lecturer is high, so this should be seen as a profession that should not be valued at bare minimum,” explained Nabiyla.
She compared it to other countries that generally do not value lecturer salaries at minimum wage. The reason is that lecturer salaries there are negotiated. In Indonesia, sector-based negotiations are nearly non-existent, so the Lecturer Welfare Research Team cannot answer how to provide an ideal standard for lecturers.
Comparing Lecturer Salaries with Neighboring Countries
The Lecturer Welfare Research Team attempted to compare lecturer salaries in Indonesia with comparable neighboring countries, namely Malaysia and Thailand. The results are quite shocking. The average lecturer salary in Malaysia is Rp 20-25 million and in Thailand is Rp 38-42 million. Nabiyla revealed that initially, the team felt those figures were not suitable for this job because they were too high. However, the main problem is that Indonesia does not have a standard for lecturer salaries.
“The comparison with Malaysia and Thailand should not be a very far comparison, but seeing that we currently do not have a standard, if we were to present at the Ministry of Education and Culture, we’d face ridicule. It’s strange how we don’t have standards; we are even afraid to mention a figure that isn’t too high at all, it’s actually quite normal,” said Nabiyla.
Lecturers are Workers Too: Fighting Not to be Oppressed
The survey results from the Lecturer Welfare Research Team also show that the lecturer profession is a labor profession. Therefore, it is necessary to fight to not be oppressed.
“Call us professional workers, call us white-collar workers, call us knowledge producers, whatever the name, at the end of the day, we are workers, we are laborers,” said Nabiyla.
Source:
Lecturer Welfare Research Team. (2023, May 4). How much do lecturers earn? Here are the results of the first national survey mapping the welfare of academics in Indonesia. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/berapa-gaji-dosen-berikut-hasil-survei-nasional-pertama-yang-memetakan-kesejahteraan-akademisi-di-indonesia-203854 accessed on May 21, 2023.
Interview with the representative of the Lecturer Welfare Research Team, Nabiyla Risfa Azzati. May 17, 2023.
Writer: Yanti Nainggolan
Editor: Imelda
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