Merdeka, 15 Agustus 1951 (hlm. 2): Antara report on Gerwis central board resolutions: gifts for victims of the revolution and colonial wars including those of the 'September 1948 affair', and an education programme of rebuilt schools and village people's schools.
Abadi, 15 Aug 1951, p. 3: Gerwis central board urges the government to give clothing or money to revolution victims and families on 17 August, including romusha, laskar, and victims of the 'September 1948 affair (from both sides)'.
Abadi, 1 Mar 1952, p. 2: Palembang women's organisations form a committee for International Women's Day chaired by Rochani Mailan of Gerwis; also reports of Krawang mothers selling children for rice.
Abadi, 10 Mar 1952, p. 3: Antara report on Jakarta's International Women's Day celebration by nine women's organisations with Gerwis as general secretariat (about 1,000 attended, incl. MPs Mudigdo and Susilowati); Perwari asks for a woman minister.
Harian Rakjat, 19 Mar 1952, p.2: brief report that three DPKN (state security investigation) officials visited the Gerwis Rawasari branch in Jakarta on 17 March 1952 and questioned members on Gerwis's attitude to Trimurti's recent arrest and who represents Gerwis in Parliament. Gerwis answered as far as possible; the p
Harian Rakjat, 20 Mar 1952, p.2: report from Kebumen that Siti Asiyah, a civil servant (Japen office) and deputy chair of the new Gerwis branch in Kebumen and Gerwis vice-chair of the 8 March International Women's Day committee, was repeatedly summoned and warned or threatened by her office head not to be active in Ger
Harian Rakjat, 10 Apr 1952, p.4 (Antara, Makassar 9 April): Nyonya Salawati Daud's report after meeting rebel leader Kahar Muzakar in the mountains is receiving government attention; Kahar's demands are said to disappoint the governor and cannot be met. The issue also reports a Gerwis role in the national child-defence
Harian Rakjat, 19 April 1952. On p. 5 a short report says the 8 March (International Women's Day) Committee held its dissolution meeting at the Gerwis building, Gang Lontar, Jakarta, chaired by Ny. Sutanti Aidit of Gerwis; delegates of Gerwis, Pemuda Puteri Indonesia, Perwari, PWKI and other women's bodies adopted a re
Page of the Jakarta daily Harian Rakjat, 23 April 1952 (Kartini Day issue; OCR very noisy). It reports Hari Kartini commemorations in Jakarta (about 650 women at Garden Hall), in The Hague, where Ny. S. Sri Kusnapsiah spoke on Kartini's aims and thought, and in Semarang, Bogor and elsewhere, alongside Wilopo-cabinet an
Harian Rakjat, 20 May 1952. A front-page item quotes S.K. Trimurti of Gerwis telling the paper that 20 May should truly become a day of unity in the struggle for independence; she recalls the 1948 Yogyakarta commemoration and the unrealised National Program, blaming organisational fragmentation. The issue also covers S
Harian Rakjat, Jakarta, 16 June 1952 (full issue; p. 2 relevant). Reports the founding meeting of a Gerwis branch (ranting) at Kemayoran, with a committee chaired by Kardini; Ny. Bandiyah of the Jakarta branch explains the statutes, and women's and youth wings of PKI organisations pledge cooperation. Also: Salawati Dau
Harian Rakjat, Jakarta, 23 July 1952 (full issue; p. 3 relevant). Article by Umi Sardjono on Government Regulation 19/1952 (widows' pensions): nearly all women's organisations object, some demanding repeal, others accepting pensions but opposing polygamy. She says the rules in effect encourage polygamy, and recalls tha
Algemeen Indisch Dagblad (1954-03-29, p. 2): report of a public Masyumi meeting in Bandung. Mrs. Ijom Suleiman argues Islam gives women equal rights and duties; Masyumi West Java secretary Rusjad Nurdin rejects PKI claims that Masyumi are American compradors and urges Muslims never to join the PKI or organisations it i
TAPOL Bulletin no. 83 (London, Oct 1987) on East Timor at the UN, Kedung Ombo, labour unrest, Muslim trials and transmigration. A boxed item 'Serving 26 years for a 20-year sentence' profiles Siti Sundari, 66, a founding member of Gerwis and Gerwani, PKI candidate in 1955 and 1964 central committee candidate, jailed si
Saraswati Sunindyo's PhD dissertation (Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1993) is a feminist study of prostitution in Java based on 1987-88 fieldwork in three brothel resorts (Samas, Bandungan, Tretes), with life stories and a history of state policy. Gerwani appears mainly in Chapter 2 (pp. 29-39): it outlin
Hersri Setiawan's Indonesian translation (Kalyanamitra, Dec 1999) of Wieringa's 1988 working paper 'The Perfumed Nightmare' on Indonesian women's organisations after 1950, with a compact history of Gerwani and the Lubang Buaya slander. Accessible Indonesian-language Wieringa.
Saskia Wieringa's 2002 monograph, the foundational history of Gerwani: a semi-autonomous organisation with triple loyalty to feminism, nationalism and socialism, and the New Order's founding on manipulation of sexual symbols through the 1965 slander. Based on interviews with Umi Sardjono, Sulami, Sudjinah, Trimurti and
Suraiya It's 2005 Temple University religion PhD dissertation on the Indonesian women's movement, with the Muhammadiyah women's section 'Aisyiyah as case study (Ch. 2 history from Kartini to the New Order; Ch. 3 religion and family law; Ch. 4-5 'Aisyiyah; Ch. 6 conclusion). Gerwani appears only in passing: Gerwis is li
2009 Sanata Dharma history thesis by Elisabeth Retnoningrum on Gerwani's orientation, the New Order's spreading of a bad image of Gerwani, and later women's movement development; concludes the sexual mutilation story was untrue and legitimised the regime.
Mursidah's 2012 survey of Indonesian women's organisations as a 'feminist movement', from Kartini to the New Order and left activism today; about two pages on Gerwani. Thin general overview.
Rio Apinino's 2013 IndoPROGRESS review essay of the Indonesian edition of Wieringa's Gerwani study: the film's Lubang Buaya scenes, Gerwis's founding in Semarang on 4 June 1950, PKI influence and the persistent 'whore' stigma. Chapter-by-chapter summary.
Tempo essay (2 Oct 2021) by I Gusti Agung Ayu Ratih on why Gerwani did not criticise Sukarno's polygamy. It recounts Kowani expelling Gerwani on 29 Oct 1965 and removing Hurustiati Subandrio in 1966, the erasure of Gerwani from women's movement history, Perwari rivalry, Gerwani members' reverence for Sukarno, and anti-
Deden Rahmanudin, 'Gerwani Mazhab Politik Islam Era Soekarno' (Jurnal Kewarganegaraan 6:2, 2022), a literature-based article presenting Gerwani as a feminist movement and discussing it from an Islamic viewpoint (Sukarno's Sarinah, Hamka). Drawing on Wieringa and Lestariningsih, it recounts Gerwani's 1950 founding, MPs
Rania Dhiyaulhaq Aisyah, 'Transformasi Gerwani' (Jurnal Sejarah Indonesia 8:2, 2025), a literature-based article on Gerwani's pre-1965 gender activism (education, health, anti-polygamy, 1955 elections, PKI ties, congresses) and its post-1965 stigmatisation. It repeats Wieringa's finding that the Lubang Buaya sexual-vio
English Wikipedia article on Gerwani (retrieved 13 Oct 2026), a long synthesis relying on Wieringa, Blackburn, Martyn and Drakeley, covering post-independence context, 1950 founding, activities and the 1965 destruction. Encyclopedic summary; flagged as needing citations.