News:
The capital of Indonesia’s Aceh province has imposed a partial curfew for women that it says will reduce sexual violence but which critics say is discriminatory. Internet cafes, tourist sites, sports facilities and entertainment venues have been instructed to refuse service to women after 11pm unless they are accompanied by a husband or male family member. Women will also be barred from working in such businesses after the cut-off time.
Aceh, alone among Indonesia provinces, implements Islamic law and makes homosexuality, gambling, and drinking alcohol punishable by caning.
Banda Aceh Mayor Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal said employing women until late at night constitutes exploitation and makes them vulnerable to sexual harassment.
Women who break the rules would be reprimanded but businesses that insisted on making their female employees work beyond the curfew risked losing their license. (Al Jazeera English, 10 June 2015)
Comments:
As predicted, some groups especially gender equality activist are voicing their rejection to the regulation. They say the curfew not only takes away the basic freedom of movement but represses women who have to work night shifts to support their families. A women’s rights advocate said the measure would only restrict women’s freedom and threaten their livelihoods. The policy does not only lead to conflicting opinion but also confusing people. Since Indonesian government ministers in Jakarta say they want to review the regulations in Aceh to see whether they breach the national constitution.
When the mayor of Banda Aceh states that the regulation is intended to provide protection for women from sexual harrasment and exploitation, she should also criticized the national policy for employing women for the sake of alleviating poverty of the family and the nation. Also should be evaluated what the root causes of mass poverty that afflicts millions of Indonesian population while natural resources of God’s grace is so abundant.
Meanwhile those who call themselves human rights activists and defenders of women have seen pejoratively all things that comes from the spirit of implementing the Shari’a. Freedom, the basis value makes them assume any regulations, particularly those relating to women considered as restrain and eliminate the economic rights of women. Policy of curfew become new ammunition for them to attack Islam and sharia. They take the curfew as evidence to claim and accuse that the rules derived from the Shari’a can only discriminate, restrain and impoverish women.
This condition should make us aware that the spirit to give full protection for women cannot be done by partial changes in local regulation, such as the curfew. Ending exploitation and violence against women requires radical changes to the view that consider women as economic assets who should be empowered to generate income (money) for her families and the nation. Women should be regarded as a mother that her greatest contribution to society is an educator for the generation, a role that cannot be assessed by the inclusion of any material. The country also needs to realize the full view of respect for women so that the presence of women in the community will be overwhelmed with the protection and respect, not abuse and violence. Also requires the replacement of the capitalist economic system that exploit the country’s natural wealth in the interest of the capitalists, replace it with Islamic economic system that restores the natural wealth benefits the grace of God to people as the true owner. It is clear that the curfew policy is not at all describe the implementation of the law as it should be. The implementation of Shariah law requires the elimination of liberal values which become basic of thinking and behaviour of people. Also require real changes to the existing secular and capitalistic constitution and laws and replace it with Islamic constitution and law. It’s time to realize that solving women’s problems can only be achieved with the implementation of the whole Shariah in the shade of the Islamic caliphate state.
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Iffah Ainur Rochmah
Spokeswoman of Muslimah Hizb ut Tahrir in Indonesia