One Billion Rising Indonesia 2021
Indonesian Women Rise Against Covid-19, Violence and Injustice

Background

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the world’s people in deepest trouble from the world capitalist crisis that is currently happening. The health crisis and the economic crisis experienced have opened our eyes to see that the capitalist system run by developed and developing countries is so damaging to the lives of world’s people. Racism, fascism and patriarchy which are fully supported by the capitalist system, are the real plague faced by the people, make discrimination something that is contested and used as a tool to make people a sacrifice for the ongoing crisis.

Every day we see the majority of people who are dying are those who have historically been exploited, oppressed, marginalized and discriminated against because of gender, race, class and caste. 

Throughout 2019 the number of cases of violence against women was equal to 431.471 cases, this number is an increase of 6% compared to the number of cases of violence against women in the previous year that was 406.178 cases. Of all reported cases of violence against women, cases of violence against women in the personal sphere in the form of cases of domestic violence dominate as much as 75% and cases of violence against women in the public sphere of 24% (3.602 cases). While the remaining 1% is cases of violence against women perpetrated by the state, includes violence against women related to land eviction, cases of intimidation of female journalist when reporting, violation of population administration rights against women accused of being affiliated with banned organization against women human rights activists.

During the pandemic, the rules for handling Covid-19, either directly or indirectly, have limited service efforts for victims of sexual violence and also opens up the potential for a higher risk of violence against women. This was experienced by Beranda Perempuan when accompanying victims of sexual violence in Jambi. 

Refers to the Online Information System (Simfoni) data of the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection of the Republic of Indonesia, the number of violence throughout 2019 in Jambi Province was around 392 cases, higher than 2018, namely 336 cases. 

In addition, the sacred relationship that indigenous people have with land has been violated through colonization, covenant violation, and ongoing human rights violations against indigenous people. This fact is still found, presumably indigenous women from their own ancestral land as happened to indigenous Pubabu women in the South Middle East NTT.

Around the world the majority of workers are on the front lines such as health care workers, home care workers (care giver), domestic workers and agricultural workers are women. Like the migrant workers, they are an unappreciated and unprotected group. Excluded from the assistance system because of their status as migrant workers and migrant workers’ families. This is the real form of what we call discrimination from the world capitalist system today. 

According to International Migrant Alliance (IMA) the number of migrant workers in the world there are 260 million migrants, 160 million contract workers, the rest were undocumented immigrants. More than 60 million refugee status as asylum seeker due to war or climate change. 

Migrants recognized by the United Nations are migrants who have been displaced by the climate, on a small island like Fiji (sinking island), Africa (extreme dryness, arctic (ice melting), Bangladesh (sinking), Indonesia (Sulawesi and Sumatera). This is a new concern. Earth will naturally experience climate change (sinking, appearing, and others), but there is a second factor that accelerates the destruction of the earth, namely capitalist greed, exploit the earth for their wealth by building factories excessively. The UN’s new concern about extreme climate change is where to place those victims. 

Covid-19, Covid pandemic is used as a means of rejection of refugees. America, Canada, Europe, Australia uses Covid to reject refugees.  

For Indonesian Migrant Workers, the covid-19 pandemic brings deep misery because it has extremely change the conditions of migrants and worsening migrant conditions. Covid-19 has become a tool for placement countries to carry out mass arrests and deportations of undocumented migrants. 

Indonesian migrant workers are also facing worsening working conditions amid the Covid-19 pandemic, doing work with very long working hours of up to 20 to 24 hours in doing work in a factory or domestic work. Spending more money to buy masks and sanitizers as well as nutritious foods (fruits and vitamins). Holiday hours are limited and some are not given time off. 

Scapegoating migrant workers as carriers of the virus. As of September 28, 2020 there were 1.708 migrant workers infected with Covid-19. They are infected and die because of Covid-19, on average, they are infected by their employers. 

We must rise to respect, protect and uphold the dignity of those who do important work. we have to stand up for the migrant workers, most important, for all life. 

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Target 

Activities