Man & Woman, Equal?

We can find a lot of cases of violence towards women in Indonesia. The numbers of the cases which aren't subliminal require an in-depth attention from all those in charge. Gender inequality happens in many aspects, to name a few, in the term of expressing own opinion and participating in mass organizations and public service. This issue has become the responsibility of many parties to unite against gender equality.

Currently, Indonesian society, especially women are fighting intensely for their rights, for gender equality. Many actions have been done, doing demonstrations, performing art show, and writing articles about women. This term is widely known as gender equality, which means a fair and balanced treatment and roles between men and women in the society. Gender equality is still not fully materialized in Indonesia due to factors such as the lack of knowledge about gender equality, society's assumption that women are weak, patriarchy's strong grip, and low numbers of women participation in public sectors.

Concrete evidence for this can be found in politics where patriarchy still has a tight grip. According to PERLUDEM (Association for General Election and Democracy) in 2017, simultaneous regional election showed that women participation only counts for 7, 17% of the total 614 candidates for regional leaders at the entirety of Indonesia (perludem.org). Actually women with great potential for the nation and country are not scarce, we can see this through the role of women teachers that ‘gave birth' to influential persons.

In Sumba, one of the islands in East Nusa Tenggara, we can find many cases of gender inequality. Ranging from the opportunity to study in university to decision making, we can find man has much more opportunities and is regarded as more capable compared to women. Therefore, the fight for gender equality still has a long way to go and requires multiple parties to involve in the conquest for gender equality.

Church's Role, churches are critical parts on the conquest of gender equality. Preachers can influence their congregation on the importance of women's role in decision making, doing services and activities that give benefits both the church and the society.

Government's Role, as a policy maker, government needs to give attention and have a good will towards women, starting from discussions among the populace with the topic of women empowerment, and educating people about the misunderstanding that men are considered superior beings in patriarchy system. Furthermore, the government needs to eliminate the stigma amongst the populace that women are inferior beings and ‘kitchen occupant'.

Family's Role is not less important, that’s why family is required to teach their children in the term of gender equality, as actions of the populace is a reflection of what happens inside the family.

As a conclusion, if you care about yourself, your mother and your woman, and all women, let's join the struggle to realize gender equality, not only in Sumba but also in our country. (Antonia Maria Oy).