The dream of an Indonesian peasant woman (Seminar Nasional Wanita Tani)

=== [PDF page 1] === The dream of an Indonesian peasant woman by MAASJE SIWI At the beginning of this year GERWANI, the Indonesian, women’s movement, held a Seminar on peasant women’s problems, the first of its kind ever held in the country. It was preceded by thorough Preparation. Many meetings were held at all levels — local, regional and provincial — and the needs of peasant women were studied in detail by militant women who had voluntarily shared their modest life and their difficulties for long periods. Such sacrifices were necessary to find out how the peasant women themselves can contribute to the rapid elimination of the colonialist heritage and the vestiges of feu dalism under which they suffer, and also because “the women’s movement could not fight effectively for u omen’s emancipation without the pi articipation of peasant women...” How many “Djenabs” turned hopefully to this seminar where their passionately discussed and Jormulated their demands and solutions to Satisfy them! representatives Proposed concrete and rapid Djenab was sitting in the conference hall, an eleven month old child sleeping in her arms. Her head was raised eagerly as she listened with keen interest to the speeches of her mates, country women from all over Indonesia assembled at the National Seminar the delegates from her region. She told me what her life had been like She had had 12 children, but hunger and privation had taken six of them Djenab, a peasant woman from the Pabuaran village of West Java, was one of Picture of hall during speech given by Umi Sardjono, President of “Gerwani”, The slogan reads: “Assure peasant women the right to become Chiefs of villages.” 29 The land belonged, and in the main stil] }, longs, to big land owners and the peasant often become burdened with debts at h unpaid labour. Due to outdated customs ¢h, peasant woman suffers many hardsh Dp: Often they are married off at a very early age, and their husbands can arbitrari divorce them. As citizens, local administ tive posts are still closed to them During the seminar, concrete measur were proposed to remedy this situat such as abolition of the law forbiddi women to be village leaders, which dat: from the colonial period, and immediat creation of local legislative assemblies wit} women guaranteed the right to take pai as Well as other local bodies The participants demanded rapid ar consequent application of the land reform decided upon in 1960, recognition of women's right to own land, that wome should take part in the land reform com mittees and the peasants consultative bodic at all levels, immediate realization < the crop-sharing law and abolition of th extremely heavy crop tax Stress was placed on the need to wage resolute struggle against certain prejudic and customs such as ostracism of childl women or women who do not bear sor And the custom of sacrificing a womar be buried together with a local feudal |} when he dies, which still exists in sor areas In regard to the national plan raising production, the masses of peasar women, and particularly GERWANI men bers, were called upon to strive to expar food and industrial crops, with techni assistance from the government Finally it defined the task for GERWAN decided to increase its efforts to help peasant women, to organise and to cari on social and cultural activities Attached to the hall was a small nurse1 where the elegates could leave the children during the semin ar. “How practi cal and fine”, Djenab told me I wish we could have such arrangements in th villages”. Other delegates joined us and th conversation passed to women who already enjoyed equality of rights and all guaran ees for the execution of their rights, whict presupposes such arrangements even in the remotest villages Well, I think that this is also w hat we work for,” Bjenab told me after a while Her voice was firm and her face aligh and I could only agree with her interest. They are even compelled to do