WOMEN AND HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER ISLAM

WOMEN AND HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER ISLAM University of South Carolina GENDER & HUMAN RIGHTS IN INDONESIA By Julia Suryakusuma

Lecture II:NEW ORDER GENDER IDEOLOGY IN PRACTICE Case studies: • PKK : State Ibuism at the Village Level 2. PP10: The State and Sexuality

PKK: State Ibuism at the Village Level • Dharma Wanita exists from Presidential to sub-district level • PKK: The Family Welfare Guidance exists in all 70.000 villages in Indonesia • Principal mediating body between state and village women. Main vehicle appointed to channel women’s programs • Founded in 1957 by the Ministry of Health, but eventually involving the Ministry of Culture & Education, Agriculture, Manpower, Religion and Internal Affairs. • Aimed at families as bio-social unit: biological unit of mother-father-children given a social construction which has an economic and ideological function

Regional Development Efforts • 10 topics - basically home economics (nutrition, sanitation, housekeeping, etc) - were identified, that were considered appropriate for a developing society. • From 1973 - 1980, PKK part of LSD (Village Social Institution) under the Ministry of Social Affairs • From 1980 onwards, PKK became the 10th section of LKMD (Village Resilience Council), under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and allotted funds given to the LKMD • The wife of the village head automatically became head of PKK • PKK under the auspices of two male-dominated institutions: LKMD & the office of the village head (thus husband = boss)

Ideological & Political Shift • Change in content of PKK programs: previously first program was ‘interfamily relations’, in 1980 it became P4 (Pancasila indoctrination courses as the first program) clearly showing an ideological & political shift • Inclusion of PKK in the GBHN (State National Guidelines), marked an unmistakeable stamp of the state • PKK not a movement as it claims to be, but mobilisation of women like mobilisation of women to focus activities to ‘Kinder, Kuche, Kirche’ in facist Germany • PKK appointed as carrier of state vision ideal society, to transport Indonesian families from “backwardness” to that of “prosperous Pancasila families”

Organizational Structure of PKK • The village head, a government appointed position, is also chairman of LKMD • The Deputy head and members of LKMD, consisting of community figures, are elected • 10 sections of LKMD: security, defense and order; education, comprehension and application of Pancasila (P4), information; economics; development of infrastructure & environmental protection; religion; health, population and family planning; youth, physical education and art; welfare, and PKK • In 1982, ‘functionalisation’ of wife of village head as head of PKK and deputy chairperson of LKMD

Organizational Structure… • PKK has a parallel organisational structure to Dharma Wanita, under Ministry of Internal Affairs, and headed by wife of the Minister • PKK has executive bodies and what they call “Activation Teams”, the patrons-cum-protectors of which are the wives of the President and VP. • Three advisors: Chairperson of Dharma Wanita, Dharma Pertiwi and KOWANI, a male guide: the Minister of Internal Affairs; a Secretary, Treasurer, Head of Work Teams and members • Heads of PKK activation teams are wives of regional heads • Ultimate head of PKK: President of R.I.

Institutionalised Dependency & Confusion • PKK Activation Teams all responsible to the male ‘guides’ (their husbands), and dependant on transportation, communication, administrative facilities, provided by Ministry of Internal Affairs • Whole structure and work mechanism complicated and fraught with confusion about linkages • Programs for women are actually meant to be coordinated by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs who have integrated program for women (health, sanitation, nutrition, non-formal education, environment, family planning,etc), but heads of PKK supposed to take orders from PKK Leadership, i.e. wife of Minister of Internal Affairs

Facism, Sexism of PKK Programs & Lack of Fit with Village Needs • 10 programs related to state ideology, government development programs and home economics • Imposition of state control & middle class values - notion of nuclear family, with income-earning men as head of household & non-income earning wives as subordinate to men • Reality (poverty, landless peasants) in village different: everyone has to work, even children, let alone women • Sexual division of labour more flexible, more egalitarian and more pragmatic • Sexism may come from a certain interpretation of Islam, capitalised by the state

State Ibuism, PKK: ‘Legalised’ Distortion of Reality • Rural women make up 80% of women in Indonesia • They suffer the most from manipulation and misinterpretation of traditional-cum-religious practices, state ideology & practices, and poverty • State Ibuism, through Dharma Wanita & PKK, fails to recognise many aspects of rural life: large number of female headed households, high rate of divorce, desertion, migration dn unemployed husbands • Fails to recognise autonomy of women as divorcees, widows and single women and that there are alternative models of womanhood and family

Institutionalised Discrimination • Women guardians of subsistence economy, and economic providers of family, as with ‘modernization, men migrate to urban centres • Access to resources (eg. Credit & income-generating programs, land ownership) cut off, because only head of household (I.e. men) are allowed • Monopoly: NGOs providing needed services (eg. Income generating programs) are criminalised as PKK the only legal provider of services • Women defacto most important income earner (continuity, not quantity), but only recognised as secondary income earners • Conclusion: State Ibuism has far-reaching and very real consequences in all spheres of life, and not only holds back women, but all of Indonesian society

2. PP10: The State and Sexuality • Sexuality, like gender, is socially constructed, distinguished further by subdivisions of class, ethnicity, religion • The New Order state has strong role in defining sexuality generally (e.g. marriage law, family planning), but particularly among civil servants • The sex life of civil servants is governed by the PP10 Regulation, formulated by civil servants and employees of state related institutions • Why? State officials should uphold principles of the state and provide exemplary behaviour. • Sexual behaviour = indicator of moral integrity and state legitimacy

Supomo’s 1945 Constitution • 1945 Constitution: derived from ideas of Prof. Supomo, expert on customary law, merging traditional and modern theories of the state • Influenced by Hegel, Japanese facist state and Javanese ‘priyayi’ (feudal) ideas of state power and authority • Supomo: structure of state should be modern rechtstaat, but informed by indigenous social structures, cultures, “the “mystical spirit” of Indonesian society, and the union of kawula (subject, people) with gusti (lord, state) • Rejected communism and Western-style democracy, settling on the “integralistic-organic” state, implies that individuals & groups are dispensable to interests of the state

State Regulation of Sexuality • States commonly engage in regulation of sexuality for population policies, eugenics and popular morality • State intervention of sexuality in terms of morality involves ideology & (practical) politics. New Order rhetoric is moralistic, but policies are ambivalent and sometimes even liberal (censorship, making family planning available to everyone, not just married couples) • Why focus on the sexuality of civil servants? Because they are embodiment of the state (and impossible to control the sexual activities of the sexually active population of Indonesia (then about 100 million people, maybe more) • Therefore, civil servants & their spouses subject to political, ideological & sexual control by the state

PP10/1983: Marriage, Divorce and Sex among Civil Servants • There is the marriage law number I/1974, followed by implementing regulation (PP9/1975), but because of ‘special status’ of civil servants and their need to keep a ‘clean image’, PP 10 was enacted • Example of bedroom politics: came at the request of Dharma Wanita, who wanted protection against the tendency of their high-powered husbands to take on subsequent wives • Politics = power = sex: in Javanese culture, possession of women considered a natural attribute of power (a common practice everywhere) and sexual access symbolises success

Irony and complaints • Irony: the obligatory nature of Dharma Wanita often takes them away from home, creating obstacles for them to be the good wives and mothers State Ibuism tells them to be • Complaints: Dharma Wanita claims it received many complaints from its members about their husband’s behaviour: divorce, polygamy, lack of financial support • Rumour: PP10 also reflects anxiety of Mrs. Tien, wife of President Soeharto. In its implementation, she had a big say in the fates of high-ranking officials who ‘strayed’. • Example: Widjojo Nitisastro, a cabinet minister who divorced his wife and marry his secretary, was relieved of his post, but retained as an economic advisor to the President

Implementation of PP10 • PP10 applies to all civil servants and high officials of state ministries, banks, companies, villages heads & other village administrators • PP10 covers marriage, divorce, polygamy and concubinage. T says nothing about prostitution or homosexual activities • Under PP10, a civil servant is obliged to report his marriage within a year. This applies to widows/widowers and divorced civil servants who remarry • The wife of a civil servants is given a “karis” (kartu istri - wife card), and the husband a “karsu” (kartu suami, husband card) where they report any ‘mutation’ of their family life - births and deaths, as welll as marriage, divorce and additional marriages

Reasons & Permissions to Divorce & Remarry • Valid reasons for divorce: adultery, drunkenness, drug addiction, gambling, violent behaviour, cruelty, incompatibility, desertion, imprisonment (same as in 1975 Marriage Law) • Civil servants not allowed to divorce or remarry for reasons of the spouse’s incurable illness, disability or infertility (allowed in 1974 Marriage Law) as it gives image of irresponsibility • If the wife files for divorce, she is entitled to nothing, unless cause of divorce is polygamous marriage on part of husband • Alimony collected from husband’s office; if divorced wfe remarries she is no longer entitled to alimony • Request for divorce has to be submitted in writing, and superior has to respond in kind within 3 months

In practice…. • In practice, it often takes 6 or more months to get a response. In the meantime, couples experience emotional distress, and may already be separated • The need to request permission to take on subsequent wife for civil servants applies only to Muslims. For non-Muslims: no way out! • Forms are provided for all requests. In the case of adultery, there has to be a statement of two witnesses to the act, and another form for the injured party • Problems: difficult to get witness, and natural reluctance of Asians to discuss private family and sexual matters openly

Reality profoundly problematic • Results depends on individual relationship of subordinate to their superiors, especially difficult for women civil servants • Implementation of PP10 thus very difficult, but failure to comply has even worse consequences • In 1990 attempt were made to amend the act, to deal with ambiguities and injustices • Examples: SPN, page 202 para 2 • But whatever changes are made, PP10 remains in force, and takes precedence over religious and customary (adat) law, and even the 1974 Marriage Law • PP10 = substantial proof of the power of executive bodies, including Dharma Wanita, giving the state the right to regulate the sexual and marital lives of civil servants

Sexual and Marital Culture of Civil Servants • The marital and sexual culture of civil servants is in contrast to moral rhetoric of govt as well as aim of PP10 • Increased control means increased transgressions & emergence of strategies to overcome restrictions as state involvement considered infringement on privacy and autonomy of civil servants • Since PP10/1983, ‘sexual transgressions’ like extra wives and marriage for appearances sake have decreased, the adoption of mistresses, prostitution, commodification of sex, and the ‘conveyor belt’ rotation of women as sexual objects continues and on the increase

Inherent Contradictions of PP10 • PP10 beset by inherent contradictions: meant to deter behaviour that is legal according to the Marriage Law or religious law, but prohibited or made difficult for civil servants • Divorce and polygamy are legal, but made difficult, and even if granted by superior, could have political and legal repercussions • Complexity and intrusiveness of the bureaucratic procedure also deters people from observing the rules, causes embarrassment • Creates distrust, isolation and atomisation among members of Dharma Wanita

Practical and Political Problems • Wives of civil servants reluctant to file for divorce even if they know their husbands have a subsequent wife or cohabiting with another woman • By reporting their husbands, they also suffer if their husbands are demoted or dismissed because they loose the facilities and privileges that their husbands have, especially if they hold a high rank • Even worse if wife is no source of income and there are several children • So the wife suffers in silence and many marriages in the civil service are for appearances only, stressful for everyone, but especially for wife

Military & State Bureaucracy = ‘Boys’ Clubs’ • Both the military and state bureacracy are ‘boys’ clubs’ (patriarchal institutions). • In theory, difficult to get permission; in reality, as long as superior is willing, divorce and polygamy are often quite easy. Considerations for granting permission can be quite arbitrary • Apart from embarrassment, the superior may defend the husband and blame the wife for the marital problems • If husband unfaithful, wife is blamed for inability to ‘keep her man’ • If superior supports the wife, the husband could retaliate, threatening his wife physically or verbally, or divorce her, even at risk of losing his job

Aborted Struggle of Wives • Initially, the wives fought back, but when they became victims of their early struggle, other women learned from those ‘lessons’, and opted to play it safe, however painful the emotional consequences • Many women, especially in upper echelons, are unwilling to give up the material comforts, facilities and power, however derived • Often they couldn’t support themselves anyway, so the trend in the 1980s was for wives to be like prostitutes • Often the women mention the children as being the reason for holding on • Case studies in “Sex, the Bureaucratic Position” pages 205-8

Labyrinth of Bureaucratic Control & Social Pressure • Classic situation of women vying for attention of men, among DW wives, but even worse is the their suspicion of female civil servants who work with their husbands • All actors caught in labyrinth of bureaucratic control, official status, paranoia, suspicion, envy and social censorship • Heavy peer and social pressure: possible for female civil servants to get divorce but at risk of disapproval from society and fellow DW members • If women open about their personal lives, they are disdained, even by their peers; if they hide it, they suffer • Female civil servants with marital difficulties are in now win situation; made worse with competition with male colleagues who are given preference for promotion and career advancement

Reporting Transgressions • The BKPP (Counseling Unit for PP10), created by Dharma Wanita to report husband’s transgressions • Dharma Wanita can take action only if wife reports a case, which it transmits to the husband’s superior, but it has no legal status, and only acts as a ‘pressure group’ and gives members the impression that it guards its interests • But the BKPP team is not versed in legal matters, and often acts only on emotional terms. Even worse, sometimes their involvement delays the already complicated procedure • There is no written regulation providing for DW involvement; if the official wants to cooperate, he will, if not, he won’t

Asexual official rhetoric in sexually charged country • Indonesia is a sensual and sexually charged country, but the official rhetoric is asexual: sex not openly recognised • DW’s attitude matches legalistic character of PP10/1983 • Marriage, remarriage and polygamy are an issue, but not sexuality as such, including prostitution and homosexuality • DW takes no action against infidelity as there is no concept guiding this; it will react against a perfectly legal divorce or plural marriage, but not against persistent infidelity

Sexual behaviour = corruption of power • The sexual behaviour prevalent among high ranking civil servants is indicative of the abuse and corruption of power found anywhere, but with a ‘feudal’ Javanese flavour and smacking of military barracks behaviour, imitated by civil bureaucracy • Military plays special role in the ideological construction of patriarchy because of notion of ‘manhood’ and justification of male superiority in the social order • The temper of combat is kept alive by constantly conjuring the ghosts of enemies (communists, subversive elements, etc) • Reality: to be a soldier and civil servants is to be totally obedient

Women’s function equivalent to function of slaves • Women are the subordinate group that performs functions necessary to the running the military of bureaucratic machine, like slaves in accient Greece to the running of democracy • In the military perspective, family - and wives - come second to the military command • Women are a source of pleasure, and wives a necessary inconvenience, but women are also a threat and an annoyance • The approval from superiors required for a soldier to marry is to ensure his loyalty to his wife does not supercede that of his military command • Prostitution helps to maintain loyalty of soldiers by satisfying their ‘needs’ when on duty. Where there are military camps or naval bases, there is prostitution

Double standards • Double standards for men and women common worldwide, but more pronounced in military • Task of wife is to guard the home front, and display unconditional loyalty - this is demanded also of DW wives • Military men expect their wives to wait for them faithfully, while sex (with prostitutes) is virtually made available by the command. When he returns, the wife has to be ever ready • The military expects wives to understand their husbands have gthe honourable task of safeguarding the nation, state and people • The biggest sin is for a soldier to have sex with another soldier’s wife, as it is demoralising

Not morality, but ‘moral’ pragmatism • The ‘moral’ pragmatism of the husbands is adopted by the wives: “let him taste greener pastures, but don’t take the goat home”, due to economic considerations that a subsequent wife costs more than a prostitute • Political exigency: transgressions committed by someone needed by the govt are overlooked; they can also be used to dispose of someone regarded as incompetent or disloyal • Many DW wives consider PP10 better than nothing, despite glaring weaknesses, as it gives the breaks to men who want to engage in polygamy or divorce their wives • Underground sexuality: PP10 makes men more adept at subverting the rules

Close connection between business and the state • If in West money begets power, in Indonesia money begets power • The state is a dominant economic actor, and involved in business transactions besides development projects • Projects and other transactions come wrapped in red tape and govt endorsement. Officials with authority to dispense signatures are said to have ‘wet’posts • Corruption and bribery mainstay of state-led business where bribes are paid off not just monetarily but also by giving out women as ‘gifts’. • Simple sexual payoff: one project, one woman

The Legitimation of Hypocrisy • Power seeks legitimacy in ideology. The New Order state has constructed a formal state ideology, but also informal state ideologies • Ideology serves to bridge gap between what people say and do • When the state elite speaks, the force of ideology is tremendous, backed as it is by economic resources, political power and military might • Gender ideology is one of the informal ideologies , defining men and women in narrow stereotypical terms • Not sexual discrimination as such, but more the justification of a pragmatic, opportunistic rule

WOMEN AND HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER ISLAM