Harian Rakjat, 30 April 1953, hlm. 8. Last page of the May Day issue: protest at bans on parts of the May Day programme, army budget, and reports of violence against women framed as moral decay and polygamy.
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (28 Oct 1953, p.2): at its 25 October conference the Jakarta women's organisation Gerwis resolved on 'Menteng 31' (supporting its return to youth but asking the government to rehouse the girls living there) and on a forced marriage of a 60-year-old man to a 14-year-old schoolgirl, expressing
Daily Mirror (Sydney), 18 December 1953, p. 11, a page of national and foreign news briefs. Only one item concerns Indonesia: a short AP report from Jakarta that 2,000 sarong-clad Indonesian women jammed the capital's streets demanding a government ban on polygamy and child marriage. No organisation is named. The other
Indische Courant voor Nederland, 23 Dec 1953, p. 3: over 2,000 women led by Perwari march in Jakarta against the amendment of Government Regulation 19 on marriage conditions and demand a marriage law; in Semarang, seven women's groups including Gerwis petition the Central Java governor.
News digest in De Vrije Pers (31 Dec 1953). Colonel Dr. Moestopo, for the "Corps of Fighting Women", defended polygamy and the pension rule for up to four wives, arguing withdrawal would stimulate prostitution. Gerwis is not named, but this is context for the contemporary polygamy debate.