Indonesian protesters call for end to violence against women in Yogya

By Rizki Halim in Yogyakarta

Dozens of women held a rally at the Zero Kilometre point in Indonesia’s Central Java city of Yogyakarta to commemorate International Women’s Day yesterday.

Taking up the spirit of feminism, the women, who came from a number of different groups, took up issues related to gender equality in Indonesia.

Action coordinator Adinda Aurellia said that Indonesian women hope that through the commemoration of IWD they could demand the rights that they should be afforded.

“We are voicing many demands at this year’s event in the framework of commemorating International Women’s Day, because there are in fact still many regulations in force that repress women,” said Aurellia.

The many cases of violence that still occur against women was also one of the topics taken up at the action.

This is bearing in mind that violence against women is an issue that to this day is still widespread because of the prevalent stereotypes about women in society that still see them as weak.

Through the rally on Thursday, the protesters hope that gender equality can truly be realised in Indonesia and that discriminative behaviour against women will no longer occur.

Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the article was “Peringati ‘International Womens Day’, Puluhan Perempuan Gelar Aksi di Titik Nol Kilometer Yogya”.

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