In mid-March 2019, Indonesian netizens and public was struck by the advent of an Instagram account with the account name: @Indonesiatanpafeminis (Indonesia without feminism). As controversial as the tagline is, this account states that ‘my body is not mine, but rather Allah’s’.

The idea to regulate women’s body, and whose ownership is it, had indeed been stretched for centuries since the dawn of civilization. Religions and cultural groups around the world put women’s body as battleground because from women’s body, lie their future generations. In modern time, nevertheless, the idea of regulating women’s body and claiming ownership of women’s body are still deemed important. Debates around women and their place in society seem to be one of the most contested affairs in many societies around the world.

As the most populated Muslim country, debates in Indonesia is highly dominated by political Islamist groups, such as those who initiated the @Indonesiatanpafeminis account. Due to heavy emphasis on religious and cultural debates on women’s body, the issue of women’s sexuality and reproductive health remains half-heartedly managed in policy, as it is easily clashed with the conservative views on the role of women in public and/or private spheres. One of the battleground is RUU PKS (Rancangan Undang-undang Penghapusan Kekerasan Seksual – Proposed Bill on the Elimination of Sexual Violence), where the debate is heavily framed in religious aspect instead.

Meanwhile, some proxy indicators related to women reproductive health in Indonesia, such as maternal mortality, is still poor. Indonesia’s maternal mortality rate is the third worst in ASEAN after Myanmar and Lao PDR, at 190 per 100,000 live births. Lack of knowledge regarding their own body and sexuality or reproductive processes, leads to high cases of unwanted pregnancy and other harmful activity such as unsafe abortion that in the end, causing maternal death. In some culture and religions, the solution offered is early marriage (e.g. @Indonesia tanpa pacaran). In another cultural context, women have less voice even in deciding how many children they want, how they want to give birth or where: men and the big family decide for them.

We expect to discuss the issue of “Indonesia tanpa feminisme”, from the perspective of feminism, religion and their influence in social and political realm of the country, as well as from the perspective of women’s sexuality and reproductive health situation in Indonesia.

Speakers:

1. DR. Dina Afrianty

Dina is a Research Fellow at La Trobe Law School, Melbourne. She writes a recent article titled ‘Women and Islam in Contemporary Indonesia’ and previously publishes numbers of articles and books on gender, Islam and politics in Indonesia. Dina will discuss the topic from the angle of Islam and feminism in Indonesia.

2. Yuni Asrianty

Yuni is a member of Komnas Perempuan and currently pursuing her master’s degree in Gender and Development at the University of Melbourne. She will discuss the topic from the angle of Indonesian gender activism and the involvement of religious group supporters in public policy making pertaining to women and gender affairs.

3. A/Prof. Linda Bennett

Linda is based at the Nossal Institute for Global Health, in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health. Her recent article titled ‘Contestations of Gender, Sexuality and Morality in Contemporary Indonesia’ and her book titled: ‘Seksualitas di Indonesia’ give a picture about the entanglement of sexual health and perception of religion and morality in Indonesia. Linda will discuss the topic from the angle of sexuality and reproductive health in Indonesia.