Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – Hundreds of students in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta held an action commemorating International Women’s Day on March 8 where they expressed their opposition to the Draft Anti-Pornography Bill (RUU APP).
The first action was held by the Yogyakarta National Student Front (FMN) together with a number of women activists from the Indonesian Family Planning Association (PKBI). A second action was organised by the March 8 Action Committee which represents a coalition of student groups.
The afternoon actions began at the Yogyakarta Monument followed by a long-march to the central post office. As well giving speeches, protesters and women activists collected signatures on a petition rejecting the pornography bill. They plan to send the petition along with signatures collected by Yogyakarta non-government organisations and artists to the government and the House of Representatives in Jakarta.
“The Draft Anti-Pornography Bill must be rejected, because it will only become a political commodity and a tool of oppression”, said Herdian in a speech at the central post office.
Asra from the March 8 Action Committee said that the patriarchal culture that is a leftover from feudalism must be wiped out because it continues to make women second-class citizens and regards them as having a lower status than men. “These kind of cultural [views] must be wiped out, because it is a tool to justify the exploitation of women”, she said.
Asra said that the forms of exploitation include paying women lower wages than men, lack of menstrual and maternal leave and the failure to pay child allowances for women workers who are already married.
They also expressed their opposition to polygamy and demanded that the government revoke legislation that discriminates against women such as Law Number 1/1974. “The Draft Law on Pornography must also be revoked because it will limit women’s room to move and with the zeal of discrediting women”, she said.
The action was tightly guarded by a platoon of Yogyakarta municipal police when they marched down Jl. Malioboro to the Yogyakarta State Palace. (nrl)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
