Jakarta – Commemorating International Women’s Day which falls on March 8, today, thousands of women in Jakarta held an action at the State Palace and the House of Representatives (DPR).

The demonstration begun at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout at around 9am followed by a rally to the National Development Planning Board (Bapenas) at around 10am, then on to the State Palace and will finish at the DPR.

“According to plans hundreds of balloons that we brought will be released at the State Palace as a symbol of the liberation from the poverty that confronts women, the theme we have brought [here today]”, said one of the spokespersons for the demonstration from the non-government organisation (NGO) Women’s Heroin Democracy, Nuraini, prior to the start of the action.

The action was joined by around 40 organisations and NGOs such as Women’s Journal, Perempuan Mahardika, the APIK (Association of Indonesian Women for Justice) Legal Aid Foundation, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Indonesian Women’s Coalition and a number of labour organisations such as the Migrant Workers Union and the Indonesian Automotive Trade Union.

The groups brought a number of banners and posters as well as a huge billboard containing their demands. “We call on the government to ensure that women’s poverty in the political, cultural and economic sectors is ended immediately”, said Nuraini.

The hottest issue was the Draft Anti-Pornography Bill (RUU AAP) continued Nuraini, which is also being taken up by the action because it too concerns women’s issues. “If the RUU APP is passed into law then there will be discrimination against women. It is because of this that we are asking the government to reject the law”, she said.

According to plans, the demonstration will continue until 4pm. Similar actions commemorating IWD are also being held in a number of other parts of Indonesia such as Semarang in Central Java.

[Translated by James Balowski.]