http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20060327.W01&irec=1
Ratna Batara Munti: Struggling for women's rights Endang Roh Suciati, Contributor, Jakarta The battle of 33-year-old activist Ratna Batara Munti for women's rights and empowerment in Indonesia is far from over. Yet, it is now facing a challenge from what is seen as an upsurge in conservative ideology collaborating with certain political groups that are trying to impose a new form of repression on women. This ideology, which promotes narrow-minded "moralism", is a threat to women's rights, and unconstitutional, the activist says. "We are women who object to the conservative ideology, as it will destroy our nation. It is also against the national ideal, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity). "The controversial draft pornography bill being discussed in the national legislature, as well as regional regulations, will impose unreasonable limitations on women's activities," Ratna said. On the draft pornography bill, Ratna said it did not regulate pornography per se but took a very narrow perspective on morality, i.e. how women dress. She was speaking from the offices of the legal aid organization of the Indonesian Women's Association for Justice (LBH APIK) in Jakarta, of which she is the director. LBH APIK is an organization whose activities stem from the giving of legal aid to women who are politically, economically or socially disempowered. It also gives training and legal empowerment to the community, especially women, advocating policy changes by analyzing legislation that is discriminatory against women; there are many other activities as well. Ratna is now facing what appears to be a misunderstanding of the pornography problem. "All they understand is morality, which is not the same as pornography," she said. The use or promotion of pornography is a crime that must be regulated by the state acting within the law, but the state cannot interfere in morality. The state cannot regulate ethics and people's expressions, including what clothes they wear. "We have societal norms and customary laws, which people can relate to," she said. Born in Yogyakarta in August 1972, Ratna has a strong background in Islamic and legal studies as she many years in pesantren (Islamic boarding schools). She spent junior and senior high school at Islam Diniyyah Putri Padang Panjang in West Sumatra. She completed her studies at the Institute of Agama Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta in 1995, specializing in sharia (Islamic law), where she also studied national and customary laws. She finished her master's in sociology at the University of Indonesia, studying in the school of political and social sciences. Ratna's deep knowledge and involvement in legal and women's issues is seen not only from her activities in advocating on behalf of women who need help, but also her intellectual thinking reflected in books and articles she has written. These include Perempuan Sebagai Kepala Rumah Tangga (Women as the head of the household), Respon Agama Islam Terhadap Pembakuan -- Perempuan (The response of Islam toward the standardization of women), Kondisi Perempuan di Bawah Hukum Islam (The position of women under Islamic law) and Demokrasi Keintiman; Seksualitas Era Global (Intimacy and democracy: sexuality in the globalized era). Now, with fellow women's activists, she is calling for a postponement of deliberations of the pornography bill, which she says is fatally flawed and not urgently needed. "On urgency, we have laws in force that relate to pornography," she said. "The problem of VCD porn is one of enforcement, not that we don't have legislation," she said. She added that if the legislature was concerned as the people's representatives and wished to respond to the VCD porn issue, it had a duty to ask why enforcement was so ineffective or nonexistent. Many other draft bills, Ratna says, like those on trafficking, witness protection and so on are more urgent and should be given a higher priority. The current draft of the pornography bill does not really protect children who may be vulnerable to pornography. It also does not really address the problem of distribution of pornography, including easy access on the Internet. Besides, the definition of the pornography is far from clear. On porno-aksi (activities that are deemed to be pornographic) she said the concept was strange. It is not defined anywhere, so the bill should focus on the regulation and distribution of pornography. Ratna, an articulate woman, has been an activist since her university days when she joined the Association of Islamic Students (HMI), where she was on the executive board (in 1995). She has focused on women's issues ever since. In 1996 she became interested in the issue of domestic violence. "At that time the main activist was still Ibu Nursyahbani. I was assigned to produce a draft on domestic violence." She subsequently became actively involved in advocating in favor of the draft domestic violence bill in many regions, lobbying the legislature until it endorsed the draft in September 2004. Ratna has since moved to legislative issues. She is now coordinator of the Network for National Legislation on Women, which includes many NGOs in Indonesia. As a woman with a strong background in Islamic law, she has a determination to see that women are empowered. She does not want Islam to be misunderstood as being repressive toward women, yet she disagrees with the formalization of shariah. The formalization of Islamic law, she says, would reduce the scope for exploring new possibilities for interpreting Islamic law, as the law would tend to be perceived as being "set in concrete". In reality, she adds, Islamic law is very dynamic and responsive to topical community issues. "For example, the discourse is now on equality, and that is guaranteed by our Constitution," she said. Milis Wanita Muslimah Membangun citra wanita muslimah dalam diri, keluarga, maupun masyarakat. Situs Web: http://www.wanita-muslimah.com ARSIP DISKUSI : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wanita-muslimah/messages Kirim Posting mailto:wanita-muslimah@yahoogroups.com Berhenti mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Milis Keluarga Sejahtera mailto:keluarga-sejahtera@yahoogroups.com Milis Anak Muda Islam mailto:majelismuda@yahoogroups.com This mailing list has a special spell casted to reject any attachment .... Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wanita-muslimah/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
