Book Relates Women’s Experiences

By Barrie | December 23rd, 2007 | No Comments

Our weaknesses can be our strengths. This is the message of the women who share their experiences in the short stories compiled in the book Perempuan di Rantai Kekerasan (Women in a Chain of Violence), which was launched Wednesday. The Hope and Inspiration Writing Contest, held by publisher Esensi, part of the Erlangga Group, encouraged women to speak out about their struggles. Ten stories were finally selected for the book.

“At first, it was difficult to write this story because it was like I was opening my old wounds and watching them happen all over again,” Ella Devianti, a runner-up in the contest, told the audience at the launch.

Her story, Pandora Terbuka (Pandora Opened) depicts the verbal and physical abuse she suffered at the hands of her former boyfriend.

She describes how her life was focused around her boyfriend, who she called “the winner”, while she was “the loser” because the lacked the courage to fight back.

“Until one point when I decided I had to change my life and no longer permit his violent behavior,” Ella said, adding that she was finally able to restore her life with the support of her family and friends.

“Writing this story was like therapy for me, (it helped me) bury the hatchet,” she said.

Second runner-up Roro Supardiyah Wringinsari, author of Bejana Hidpuku (My Life Jug) said she had become used to violence as a child.

Roro, the eldest of six children, said she had frequently been the target of her stepfather’s anger.

“But I considered that to be part of his efforts to discipline me as the oldest daughter,” she said.

Life did not change when she married her husband, who cheated on her.

In her piece, she discusses his refusal to support her and their children financially, problems that still have not been resolved.

“But it is not a problem for me anymore as I can see my children becoming successful,” she said, adding that her children had encouraged her to write.

“This is more like an effort to reconcile my children with their father because I don’t want them to hate their father for what he has done to me,” she said

Nurul Arifin, an artist turned politician, said that women were submissive due to the patriarchal culture that was still a part of Indonesian life.

“Of the thousands of episodes of domestic violence reported to the National Commission for Women’s Rights, only 10 percent of them can be brought to the courts because most of the time women withdraw their accusations, saying that it is a family matter,” she said.

She added that it would be difficult to change a culture that has long been internalized in the life of Indonesians.

“The only way to change this situation is by creating a new system that can protect women’s rights,” Nurul said.

Irawaty Wardany