1951 – 1980
Founding handbook of Gerwis issued after the June 1950 Semarang fusion of six women's organisations: statutes, a catechism-style commentary, bylaws, an organising manual and a field guide for work among women workers, peasants, traders and workers' wives. Frames women's interest in anticolonial struggle.
Merdeka, 19 Mar 1951, p. 2: S.K. Trimurti of the Gerwis central board says Gerwis will focus on village councils over parliamentary seats, on doctors, midwives and marriage issues, and denies Gerwis is a PKI onderbouw.
Merdeka, 10 Apr 1951, p. 2: Antara from Semarang that the Gerwis central board (6 Apr 1951) endorses the 14-party joint programme (annul KMB, independent foreign policy, revoke SOB) and demands a broad national coalition cabinet.
Abadi, 11 April 1951, p. 4: Gerwis central board (Semarang, 6 April 1951) endorses the 14-party joint programme (cancel KMB, independent foreign policy, revoke SOB) and demands a broad coalition cabinet.
Abadi, 14 April 1951, p. 1: notice that letters and telegrams endorsing the 14-party joint programme poured in, including from the Gerwis central board in Semarang alongside unions and peasant groups.
Abadi, 8 Aug 1951, p. 2: separate left-wing 17 August committees under a 'peace programme' in Jakarta and Bandung, with Gerwis, SOBSI, Lekra and others in charge of the programme.
Merdeka, 8 Agustus 1951 (hlm. 2): mass organisations under the Peace Committee form their own 17 August committee with a 'peace programme', Gerwis and Lekra running the programme section.
Abadi, 15 Mar 1952, p. 3: Trimurti's open letter (while detained) to women's organisations before a Kongres Wanita Indonesia conference, proposing majority voting and a minimum programme on schools, rice prices, women's and child labour, and trafficking.
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
English text of the PKI programme (Fifth National Congress, 1953): Indonesia as semi-colonial and semi-feudal after the Round Table agreements, with demands on land, labour and democracy. Background on PKI aims.
Het Nieuwsblad voor Sumatra (17 Jun 1953, p.2): Gerwis issues a statement on the formation of a new cabinet, calling for one that repeals measures harming women and people. Its programme demands protection of working women (especially pregnant), curbing unemployment, a bigger education and culture budget, price control
Commemorative volume of the second Gerwis congress (Jakarta, 25–31 March 1954): greetings, foreign women's federations' telegrams, general report, resolutions, and the unanimous 30 March 1954 decision to rename Gerwis as Gerwani. Includes new statutes and a WIDF memorandum to the UN.
Whole scrambled page of De Locomotief, 30 Nov 1955, with the fullest text of Gerwani's four-point marriage programme for the Constituante: no coercion, abolition of child, forced and purchase marriages and mistresses, polygamy forbidden in principle, divorce open to both sexes before a court and support for divorced wo
Short Algemeen Indisch Dagblad sidebar 'Rechten' (1955-12-29, p. 3) from the Gerwani marriage-law announcement: spouses should have equal rights and freedom to choose occupation and social activity; no distinction between adopted and stepchildren; children born out of wedlock to be legally protected.
Short Algemeen Indisch Dagblad sidebar 'Voorwaarden' (1955-12-29, p. 3) listing Gerwani's conditions for marriage: free choice of spouse, minimum ages of 18 for men and 15 for women, a ban on marriage between direct blood relatives, compulsory registration, with religious or adat ceremonies still allowed.
Document pack of the WIDF Fourth Congress, Vienna, 1-5 June 1958: Eugenie Cotton's report on women's role, the Manifesto, resolutions on peace, women's rights and children, appeals to the UN, credentials report and constitution. Indonesia appears in passing: Cotton credits 'the Indonesian Women's Movement' with improvi
WIDF Information Bulletin no. 10/1958 report on Gerwani since its Third Congress (December 1957): regional conferences, new constitution (branches replace workplace branches, 20-member minimum), plan to double membership, campaign for a national marriage law against polygamy with Sumari (PNI) and Mudigdio (PKI) MPs in
Bintang Merah special issue, vol. 1: documents of the VI National Congress of the PKI, Jakarta 7-14 September 1959 (Yayasan Pembaruan, 1960). Contains Aidit's opening speech, the Central Committee's General Report, and Programme and Constitution changes. Gerwani is not named; on women it records growing women's members
Gerwani statute booklet ratified at the Fourth National Congress, Jakarta, 14–17 December 1961. Includes a congress address on revisions, the Mukadimah (preamble) and 49 articles covering structure, membership and a Foreign Section; affiliates Gerwani with the WIDF and recounts the 1954 break with Gerwis.
DPP Gerwani booklet with the 33-point Program Perdjuangan ratified at the Fourth Congress (Jakarta, December 1961), revising the 1957 Solo program. Keeps demands for women village heads, a democratic marriage law and price control; claims over one million members and sets three slogans.
Government reference almanac issued by the Department of Information (Departemen Penerangan), June 1961, on the institutions of Guided Democracy: MPRS, DPR-GR, DPAS, Depernas, Bapekan, Front Nasional and recognised parties, with decrees, membership lists and party statutes. Gerwani appears only once, as the women's del
PKI constitution as revised at the Seventh (Extraordinary) Congress, Jakarta, 25–30 April 1962, adjusted to Presidential Regulations 7/1959 and 13/1960 on political parties under Guided Democracy.
Pravda no. 182, 1 July 1963 (full issue). Page 4 prints the WIDF programme adopted at its Moscow congress (29 June 1963): equal rights, peasant women, children, peace, national independence, solidarity with persecuted women. It lists the new Bureau, which includes Umi Sardjono (Indonesia, spelled 'Umisa Sardjono'). Eug
Pravda no. 182, 1 July 1963 (excerpt). Prints the WIDF programme adopted at its Moscow congress (29 June 1963): equal rights, peasant women, children, peace, national independence, solidarity with persecuted women. Lists new Bureau members, including Umi Sardjono (Indonesia, spelled 'Umisa Sardjono').
Asahi Shimbun (Tokyo evening edition, 1 Jul 1963, p. 2): article on Japan abstaining on the platform of the World Congress of Women (legible: Moscow). The OCR is almost entirely scrambled, so this summary rests on the title and a few legible words; no named Gerwani member or Gerwani mention is visible.
Soviet Woman, 31 Jul 1963, p. 44: WIDF programme adopted at its 1963 Moscow World Congress of Women, with an issue preview and the list of elected leaders. Eugenie Cotton re-elected president. Umi Sardjono (Indonesia) is named among Bureau members, with Freda Brown (Australia), Vilma Espin and others.
De Waarheid report (2 May 1980, p.5) of a talk by Mieke Lokkerbol of Komitee Indonesië on the Indonesian women's movement from Kartini to Gerwani. It describes Gerwani's programme (marriage law, rape penalties, labour law, schooling, health, price control), claims 1.5 million members in 1963, its ban after 1965, and ma