“I want to be part of the women’s movement until whenever,” activist and the chairwoman of the National Commission on Violence against Women Yuniyanti Chuzaifah said.
The committed lady has dedicated her life to the gender equality
movement for more than 20 years, and nothing seems to be able to stop
her from fighting for equality.
The PhD candidate from the
University of Amsterdam promised she would continue fighting for women’s
rights even though she was no longer attached to any organization.
“I
define the [women’s] movement as not just collective action. For me, an
individual’s actions are also a movement. When a woman shows resistance
or asks to negotiate, that is also a movement. Don’t underestimate the
value of this fight by defining the women’s movement as things that only
happen in formal and public areas,” the elected chairwoman for the 2010
to 2014 period said.
Yuniyanti began her involvement in the
movement when she was a first-semester student at the Jakarta State
Institute of Islamic Studies in the early 1990s. At that time, she
joined the women’s foundation Yayasan Perempuan Mahardika, which
supported gender issues. She learned to engage at the grassroots level
with communities from her involvement in the organization, in which she
became involved in a program to empower female workers in Tangerang.
The
oppressive New Order regime created a challenge at that time due to
restrictions on political and social activities, forcing Yuniyanti and
her friends to run the organization undercover.
“I had to hide
sandals or shoes at the front door during our meetings for fear that we
might get caught,” she recalled in a recent interview with The Jakarta
Post.
That repressive system, however, failed to stop Yuniyanti
because she continued her struggle by joining another women’s
organization, Solidaritas Perempuan (Women’s Solidarity), in which she
initiated the first basic rules for women’s organizations in Indonesia.
She continued promoting the movement at the grassroots level and tried
to bring female worker issues into discussions of gender.
After that, there was no turning back for Yuniyanti.
She then got involved in the formation of the Indonesian Woman’s Coalition and became one of its 22 initiators.
“My history in the women’s movement has always been about becoming an initiator, ” she said, laughing at the coincidence.
One
of her big findings was when she discovered a formula to help the
peace-building process by involving women as key players in conflict
areas in Jakarta, Kalimantan and Papua.
“Women are strategic
agents to break the chain of conflict using the domestic area,” said the
expert, who used domestic fields like living rooms and kitchens as
negotiation rooms for women to have their say in conflicts.
Even
though large words and terms frequently flew from her mouth during the
interview, Yuniyanti seems to know the art of making academic theories
about gender and feminism sound very simple and applicable in helping
women in society.
The 42-year-old is known for her down-to-earth policies in order to reach all women.
Since
her first job in the field in the 1990s, she has always made time to
visit women in remote areas to try and get them involved in a single
vision of gender empowerment.
She recently flew to Halmahera in Maluku to meet local female activists fighting for gender equality in the area.
Her modest approach to the work seems to be in line with her lifestyle.
She confessed to being a faithful public transportation user, who frequently goes to work by bus rather than using her car.
“As a female activist, don’t focus only on women’s issues. We have to defend the universe, take care of
nature,” Yuniyanti said.
She has also taught her two children her humble and green lifestyle.
“I
always encourage my young child to take the bus, and instead of busying
with her cell phone [I tell her] just take a look around and pay
attention to the surrounding,” said the woman, who confessed that she
learned her modest lifestyle from her parents.
The first daughter of the family said her parents were her big inspiration.
“I
admire my mother, even though she didn’t have a bachelor’s degree. I
learned about how a woman has to be strong and independent from her,”
said Yuniyanti.
Her late mother also taught her to prioritize
family over career, a lesson that she really holds dear until now,
making her a feminist with a positive image of the family.
That
lesson has proven useful, for Yuniyanti has been happily married for
almost 20 years to executive TV producer Muchlis A. Rofik, and they are
blessed with two children, Vikra Alizanovic and Vandana Mersini.
Yuniyanti
is a good mother with good taste in interior design as well. Due to her
good taste, her beautiful house in Sawangan, Depok, has made it into
magazines twice.
Her family relationship has always been dynamic,
as the discussion on human rights and gender can happen anytime and
anywhere, include in the dining room or inside the car.
But
family is not the only inspiration for Yuniyanti. Her past education at
an Islamic boarding school, Pesantren Pabelan in Magelang, Central Java,
also had a major influence on her life.
She was exposed to values of humanity and pluralism during her time there.
And for more than 20 years, those values remain in her heart.
Yuniyanti’s belief in pluralism is what pushed her to fight radicalism, which she believes is a new threat to women’s rights.
Her
current agenda at the commission is to strengthen the movement at the
grassroots level as well as to monitor legislation to make sure women’s
rights are legally protected, and to create a new generation of female
activists.
In relation to regeneration, Yuniyanti has promoted a
sharing leadership style on the commission to avoid individual dominance
that could threaten the livelihood of the organization should one
leader depart.
The organization’s next goal is to build a woman’s resource center to support the gender equality
campaign.
Personally,
Yuniyanti said she didn’t want much, she only hopes to finish her PhD
soon and transfer her spirit to her children, whom she considers as part
of her oasis, her place to go home.