In the past, we had occasionally supported the actions of our Indonesian partners faced with natural disasters, but since December 2016, our support has been limited to the activities of the women’s association Perempuan Mahardhika with garment workers, in the KBN Cakung industrial zone (Jakarta area, the capital). This intervention aims to combat sexual harassment and to enforce reproductive rights.

Last year, faced with the succession of disasters that struck the archipelago, we started again sending funds to help the affected populations.

The Pacific Ring of Fire has entered an active phase and the effects of global warming are increasingly felt in Southeast Asia (rising ocean waters, typhoons ...). We must therefore prepare ourselves to continue this action.

Given the fact that it concerned only local activity (assistance to KBN Cakung workers), our financial support to Indonesia was much more limited than to other countries in the region, responding to large humanitarian disasters. We must now increase it... without reducing our financial assistance to our partners in Pakistan, the Philippines, Bangladesh...

We have in 2018 transferred to Indonesia a total of 4000 euros, ie:

Three thousand euros on October 31, in response to the tsunami of Sulawesi

One thousand euros on December 28, for working with the workers of KBN Cakung.

See below the thank you letter from Perempuan Mahardhika.

We also refer to the following documents:

A very extensive study published by our partner on sexual harassment and respect for reproductive rights for KBN Cakung workers in 2017:
Perempuan Mahardhika, ESSF (article 47196), Indonesia: An Study on Sexual Harassment and Denied Maternal Rights towards Garment Workers in KBN Cakung Industrial Zone:
http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article47196

The presentation of these activities by Perempuan Mahardhika, ESSF (article 42996), Indonesia: Perempuan Mahardhika (“Free Women”) and its activities:
http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article 42996

The call for solidarity after the fall tsunamis:
ESSF (Article 46688), Call for financial solidarity for the victims of the recent earthquake in Sulawesi (Indonesia):
http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article46688

Pierre Rousset, ESSF

Thanks letter to ESSF donors for teir supportin 2018

After successfully collecting data on the voices of victims of sexual abuse with the KBN Cakung Women’s Post (2017), in 2018 Perempuan Mahardhika along with the Women’s Garment Workers at KBN Cakung moved to be involved in advocating of the Bill on the Elimination of Sexual Violence (RUU P-KS) which stagnate for years in the DPR (House of Representatives), and new draft of ILO Convention on the Elimination of Violence and Discrimination in the World of Work.

Support from the ESSF helped us to realize the Rent-House Discussion to socialize the contain of empowerment and fulfillment of victims’ rights stated in the Bill and the Convention through leaflets production, posters and other campaign tools. This rent-house discussion is also a process for sharing experiences, seeing how the vulnerability of sexual harassment that occurs in the workplace and daily life becomes the basis that urges the ratification of the Bill on the Elimination of Sexual Violence. Thus process also helped the women workers of the KBN Cakung to be actively involved in the massive protets “Listen to the Voices of Victims, Immediately Ratified the Bill on the Elimination of Sexual Violence” in Jakarta on December 8, 2018 along with various women’s groups.

Perempuan Mahardhika is also thankfull for the ESSF’s support in the effort to handle the disaster in Palu in September 2018 and later . This support was help us in logistics distribution such as rice, vegetables, mineral water, and baby milk, especially in areas far from the center of Palu city such as Lombonga, Malei, Walandano, Sibado, Sikara and Sibayu Villages located in Donggala District. We link the support of ESSF through FMK Post. Its a post created by Popular Student Federation (FMK), one of the Perempuan Mahardhika’s network in Palu.

Finally, we really appreciate the support of the ESSF in 2018, and hope that this collaboration to strengthen solidarity and humanitarianism could continues in the future.

January 12, 2019

Perempuan Mahardhika

Since December 2016 ESSF has been providing annual support to Perempuan Mahardhika for its activities.

€2,000 were transferred to Perempuan Mahardhika in 2016 and €1,000 in 2017,€2,000 in 2018 – so €7,000 in total (2016-2018).