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The
Jakarta Post recently reported that between 2002 and 2009 the Home Ministry
annulled 1,878 bylaws (“After ‘straddling’ proposal, ministry to review
bylaws”, Jan. 18). The article stated that almost 1,800 of those annulled
bylaws dealt with regional taxation and levies; 29 dealt with third-party
political donations; and 22 pertained to alcoholic beverages. The report
also indicated that 758 bylaws were currently under evaluation by the
ministry, comprising 589 on regional taxation and levies; 19 on alcoholic
beverages; 71 on third-party political donations; and 79 on other matters.
According to
the article, none of the annulled bylaws or those under evaluation included
the 282 laws that justify discrimination against women and other minority
groups, according to the National Comission on Violence Against Women
(Komnas Perempuan). Critics say that the ministry does not dare touch these
controversial issues that are contained in the laws.
Public policy
is generally considered a political product. Its formulation and
implementation is a political process. The use of government resources and
the application of sanctions are required to ensure that the whole process
runs smoothly.
It has been
rarely discussed that public policy is also a matter of culture. Amri
Marzali (2012), in his book Antropologi dan Kebijakan Publik (Anthropology
and Public Policy), writes that public policy is a cultural product, while
its formulation and implementation is a cultural process.
Browsing
through the list of the 282 laws, a substantial number directly
discriminate against women, mostly at the local level. These laws deal with
issues such as prostitution, pornography and dress codes. In practice, the
implementation of the laws leads to violations of women’s rights and freedoms.
In some cases, it even costs women’s lives.
In September
last year, a 16-year-old girl identified as Putri committed suicide in
Langsa, Aceh. She was on her way home late at night after attending a
concert when she was apprehended by sharia police. Some reports at the time
suggested that she was suspected of being a prostitute.
Others
indicated that she may have been accused of going out in the evening with
men who were not her direct relatives. Both matters are regulated in local
ordinances, which acted as the basis for the raid.
The depression
and stigma felt by Putri after her arrest burdened her. She also felt
guilty for shaming her family. These are believed to have contributed to
her decision to end her life.
Putri was not
the first person to fall victim to bylaws in place to supposedly maintain
“public morality” and to “protect” women. In 2006, a pregnant wife
identified as Lilis was apprehended by public order officers (Satpol PP)
while she waited for public transportation to return home at night after
finishing her shift at a restaurant in Tangerang, Banten. The action by the
Satpol PP personnel was the implementation of a bylaw on prostitution.
Lilis was detained for three days and was accused of being a sex worker.
She died two years later. Her death was believed to have been caused in
part by depression following her arrest.
Not all women
have the luxury of owning a private car with a driver or a family member
who is ready to drive them whenever and wherever they want to go. Many
women, including Lilis, rely on public transportation in their daily lives.
Instead of improving services and security on public transportation
vehicles, however, the government — through these discriminative bylaws —
punishes working women, such as Lilis, for being out in public places at
night.
In other
regions, women are punished and humiliated for doing what the late Putri
and Lilis did, namely for wearing “inappropriate” clothing — whatever that
means.
If public
policy is a cultural matter, the question then is: What kind of culture is
being promoted through the implementation of such discriminative bylaws?
Answer: a patriarchal-mysoginistic culture. This kind of culture views
women as the source of immorality. They are the first to be punished
regarding “public morals”, which is often based on the vague, subjective
thinking of those in power.
Within this
context, public policy is also about social change. William Kornblum (2005)
writes in his book, Sociology in a Changing World, that social change
constitutes “variations over time in the ecological ordering of populations
and communities, in patterns of roles and social interactions in the
structure and functioning of institutions, and in the culture of societies”.
Unless the
central government takes definitive action against bylaws that are not in
line with human and women’s rights, we will increasingly move toward
becoming a society in which gender inequality is more apparent, and women
may someday dissappear from the public sphere altogether.
From a perspective
of social change, this is part of an intended change. Borrowing Kornblum’s
term, “endogenous forces” or social forces, which emanate from within
society, contribute to this situation. This is not a pessimistic thought
but more a warning so that we can do something to avoid such a dark future
for women.
On a lighter
note, there are also laws that promote women’s empowerment. At the national
level, there are laws to eliminate domestic violence and human trafficking,
and others that promote gender mainstreaming. At the local level, Cimahi
municipality and Bandung regency, both in West Java, have the Perda KIBBLA
(bylaws on mothers and newborn infants’ health), which aim to reduce the
high maternal and infant mortality rates in the region. There are other
pro-women laws in other regions that we should support.
Let us work
together to create a better future and a more egalitarian society in which
everyone — regardless of gender — can fully exercise his/her rights, free
from fear and live life with dignity. ●
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