11 March 2002,

Timika, West Papua, detik.com
The National Women's Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM Perempuan) decided to centre this year's celebration of International Women's Day, 8 March, in Timika, Papua, to pay tribute to the struggle by women of traditional societies against violence in order to break the cycle of violence.

The Commission said that they had chosen Timika because the women there are united in their determination to confront the issue of violence against women. 'They are spearheading efforts to create organisations committed to restoring women's rights and empowering women who have become the victims of violence.'

The Commission said that what the women in traditional communities are doing is very important in the context of upholding women's rights in Indonesia. Traditional societies are particularly susceptible to violence as the result of militarism and industrialisation in the areas where 
they live. Women in these societies directly confront the brutal behaviour of the security forces of the state. Investigations undertaken by the Commission show that there are many forms of maltreatment directed specifically against Papuan women, including verbal abuse which 
degrades their standing as human beings.

Social structures have been damaged by the process of impoverishment, exposing Papuan women to such crimes as rape and maltreatment which they confront in their efforts to protect the natural environment, as well as enforced use of contraceptives. These things are not confined to Papua but reflect the experience of women in traditional communites elsewhere, such as for instance in Kalimantan where practices such as sexual violence, trafficking in women and contract marriages are widespread.

In personal relations, women in these societies confront cultural practices that subordinate them to males, especially where the men have lost their means of livelihood and seek solace in alcohol and gambling which lead to acts of violence in the home.

In many cases too, women are excluded from being involved in seeking for solutions to the problems suffered by their communities; in fact, they are often the ones to be blamed. 'This means that efforts by women in traditional societies to affirm their own self-determination take on a special significance,' the Women's Human Rights Commission said.