Women round the World: Indonesian Women (Kinesis, Juni 1977)

=== [PDF page 1] === Indonesian Women On October 1, 1965, a group of middleranking army officers initiated a coup against the army leadership. The coup attempt was quickly crushed by General Suharto, the leader of the army. He claimed that the entire Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and the rest of the country's left-wing movement were responsible for the uprising. Nearly half a million Indonesians were killed in the massacres following the attempted coup. An even larger number were arrested. Many were imprisoned merely because of a past membership or association with left of centre organizations at a time when such organizations were still legal and sanctioned by former Pres— ident Sukarno, Amnesty International estimates that there are between 55, 000 and 100,000 prisoners who continue to be incarcerated without being charged or tried, GERWANI (Indonesian Women's Movement) was the largest women's organization in Indonesia with a membership of more than one million, Due to its left-wing sympathies, it was banned for alledged complicity in the abortive coup attempt. GERWANI members were also accused of being responsible for atrocities committed during the attempted coup. Many of the GERWANI women were subjected to torture and sexual abuse during their interrogation, Reliable accounts of torture were contained in the Sunday Times, London, January 11, 1976. A young woman, Tjiou, was severly and sexually tortured, She also observed a woman who had boiling water poured over her head; a woman whose nipples had been cut off, and a man who died because of electric shock treatment. Some of the women in prison were victims of circumstance: people picked up on the streets without i.d. & unable to defend themselves against political charges; women whose daughters and sons were being sought by the army; women who were picked up togéther with their husbands or sons for no reason other than their relationship to them. Other women did have their own political lives. After eleven years, only a handful have been brought to trial and the charges against them have not been related to the alleged atrocities during the attempted coup. The best estimate is that there are over 2,000 women still in prison with little hope ‘of release or trial. (to p. 14) NOW National _ Conference "We're the largest, strongest feminist organization in the world and we know we shall overcome," This was how Eleanor Smeal, the newly elected president of the National Organization of Women (NOW) ended her acceptance speech to the 10th national NOW convention, in Detroit, April 21- 24. NOW's 55,000 members were represented by some 675 official delegates from every state in the U.S. The purpose of the convention was to elect. new national officers and formulate strategy for the ee of NOW's “second decade” At the previous convention in Philadelphia in October 1975, Karen De Crow was narrowly aldcted as a “majority caucus” leader who campaigned under the slogan, "Out of the mainstream into the revolution." More conservative opponents threatened to form another organization which would not speak about "work-site organizing," minority women or "recognizing the bond between oppression based on sex, race, sexual preference, poverty or ethnic background.” By the 1977 convention, the “majority caucus" had disbanded and DeCrow dropped her references to ‘revolution’. At press conferences and in her keynote address, she spoke about the ERA, about the need for displaced homemaker legislation, separation of church and state and lesbian rights. This year, Smeal won by a margin of 526-66: there was no real political contest for offices. There was only a rare nod by NOW to the needs of working-class, poor, Black or other third world women. The constituency they appealed to was the "suburban housewife who wants to end her house arrest." NOW promoted the image of their new president as a “typical housewife." All the new officers, as well as the resolutions committee, gave second place priority to the rights of homemakers (behind ERA). No priority was given to welfare reform, the expansion of social services, or childcare, A mild resolution calling upon NOW to support concerns of minority women was defeated and its sponsors, members of the Trotskyist SWP, redbaited. (info from the Guatdias) CHILE Once again, the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Chile expresses its solidarity with political prisoners in Argentina. Since the military coup of March 24, 1976, in which General Jorge Videla assumed power in Argentina, human rights have been constantly violated, The total number of missing persons is estimated to be approx. 4000. Between 5000 and 6000 political prisoners have been held without charge. Amenesty International defines the Argentinian situation as “the most atrocious mass assault against human rights." Conscious of the situation, the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Chile, asks for your cooperation. They urge you to send a letter or cable to one, two or all of the persons included in the list of addresses, calling for the release of the following women. ANA MARIA CRISTINA FRANCONETTI, a 20 year old worker, abducted along with her brother on February 17, 1977. Her whereabouts are unknown. ANA MARIA TERESA MILER, Editor of "La Flor". Detained along with her husband Daniel Divinsky in February, 1977. Sample letter: I protest the imprisonment of women listed in this letter and I demand that they be treated according to the Declaration of Human Rights and released from jail. Their imprisonment is an insult to human dignity and a clear violation of all the principles of freedom in its most basic form, CONTACT THE COMMITTEE FOR THE DEFENSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHILE at 906 - 207 West Hastings, Vancouver. 669 5545, Send letters of protest to: General Jorge Videla President of the Republic Casa Rosada Buenos Aires Argentina Kurt Waldheim General Secretary O.N.U. New York, N.Y. Horacio Arce 56 Sparkes St, #816 Ottawa, Ontario, === [PDF page 2] === "Women round the World." Kinesis, vol. 6, no. 7, June 1977, p. 10. Archives of Sexuality and Gender, link.gale.com/apps/doc/ BWGNKP700050363/GDCS?u=columbiau&sid=bookmark-GDCS. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.