Komnas Perempuan's 2007 report on gender-based crimes against humanity in 1965: 122 testimonies, an account of Gerwani's history and the 1965 press campaign behind the Lubang Buaya slander, and catalogue of rape, sexual slavery, detention and Buru. Key official source on women's experience.
Review of Martyn, The Women's Movement in Post-Colonial Indonesia (Ratih, 2007)
Agung Ayu Ratih's review (2007) of Elizabeth Martyn's book on the postcolonial women's movement, welcoming its recovery of 1950s activism as complementing Wieringa and confirming that Gerwani's destruction meant women's political retrenchment, with sharp critique of the core argument.
The leader's steadfast road: obituary of Umi Sardjono (Lilik HS, 2011)
Lilik HS's IndoPROGRESS obituary of Umi Sardjono (born Suharti Sumodiwiryo, Gerwani chair 1954-65, d. 11 March 2011): her funeral at Matraman, a visit to the Waluya Sejati elderly home founded on Sulami's initiative, and former leaders' memories. Literary-journalistic portrait.
Child-raising, Childbirth and Abortion In Extremis: women's stories 1965-1966 (Pohlman, 2013)
Pohlman's 2013 article, from about 150 interviews, on women's stories of pregnancy, childbirth, raising, losing and aborting children during 1965-66 and detention, including cooperative childcare and a former Gerwani leader (Ibu Astuti). Gendered history of survival.
Women, Sexual Violence and the Indonesian Killings of 1965-1966 (Pohlman, 2015)
Annie Pohlman's 2015 monograph, the first book-length study of gendered violence in 1965-66, based on about 150 women survivors: patterns of arrest, torture, rape, sexualised mutilation, strip searches for the 'Gerwani mark', sexual slavery and 'wife-taking'. Key scholarly source.
Surviving in Impunity: Stories of Women Survivors Still Denied Justice (AJAR/Komnas Perempuan, 2015)
Book by AJAR with Komnas Perempuan (Oct 2015) from participatory research with women survivors. In the 1965 context chapter (pp. 39-40) it describes false rumours about Gerwani and the sexual slander of the generals, with violence against Gerwani members. Survivor testimonies name Christina Sumarmiyati (arrested again
Surviving in Impunity: Stories of Women Survivors Still Denied Justice (AJAR/Komnas Perempuan, 2015)
Book by AJAR with Komnas Perempuan (Oct 2015) from participatory research with women survivors. In the 1965 context chapter (pp. 39-40) it describes false rumours about Gerwani and the sexual slander of the generals, with violence against Gerwani members. Survivor testimonies name Christina Sumarmiyati (arrested again
Pohlman (2017) chapter on how women whose husbands were killed or detained in 1965-66 secured daily survival for decades under ET stamps and boycotts, with case studies including Ibu Arum, a plantation labourer. Women's post-violence survival.
Purifying Indonesia, Purifying Women: Komnas Perempuan and the 1965-1968 Violence (van Doorn-Harder, 2019)
Nelly van Doorn-Harder's 2019 article on how Komnas Perempuan took up 1965 women survivors (2006 delegation, 2007 report), arguing the violence and stigma were justified as 'purification' and Gerwani women were cast as 'the most impure of all'. Gender and religious logic of impurity.
Transformation of Gerwani: gender struggle to post-1965 stigmatisation (Aisyah, 2025)
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
Tempo.co, 11 November 2025: Saskia Wieringa - the Suharto regime was highly militaristic, like today (danger of Suharto
Tempo.co interview (11 Nov 2025, Shinta Maharani and Juli Hantoro) with Saskia Wieringa, known for Gerwani research, on Suharto's designation as national hero. She says it perpetuates symbolic violence and impunity (Drexler), recalls the brutal 1965 slander of Gerwani and the 'Gerwani baru' label, and argues Suharto de