Indonesians in Focus: Muthmainah Korona

By Barrie | September 14th, 2007 | No Comments

It may be hard to imagine Muthmainah Korona, who has the gangly body of a teenager, in her role as a social activist. The 28-year-old mother of three from Central Sulawesi was presented last month with the Saparinah Sadli Award for her commitment to helping formulate programs, legislation and policies that promote gender equality in Palu and Donggala.

“The award should go to my fellow activists. I don’t work alone,” Muthmainah said during the awards ceremony in Jakarta.

“I also thank my husband for donating half of his monthly salary to women’s activities,” the director of the Palu-based Women’s and Children’s Care Community said referring to her husband, Nasution Chamang, who works for the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) in Central Sulawesi.

Muthmainah, who is also provincial coordinator of the Indonesian Women’s Coalition, was the driving force behind the Donggala legislative assembly’s decision to issue a bylaw requiring all employers in the regency’s rural subdistricts to use a quota system, allocating 30 percent of jobs for women.

She succeeded last year in getting the Donggala legislators to reduce the regency’s routine expenditures, increase spending on women’s and children’s health programs and promote gender-sensitive and pro-poor programs.

Muthamina, who believes the simple removal of legal restrictions will open up opportunities for women in rural areas, also contributed to the drafting of the two bylaws on child rights and women and child trafficking that are now being deliberated by the Central Sulawesi legislative assembly.

“She is a strong woman. The first time I met her she seemed hard, just like any other activist. Now she is more persuasive. We have made her a consultant so we can approach incoming legislation and initiatives in a gender-unbiased way,” wrote legislative assembly chairman Ridwan Yalidjama in a booklet on the Saparinah Sadli Award 2007.

A panel of judges selected Muthmainah and activist Aleta Ba’un from East Nusa Tenggara as the recipients of the 2007 Saparinah Sadli Awards.

The two were chosen from more than 100 women’s rights activists across the country. The award is given to women who work to enhance and protect the freedom and rights of women.

The judges for this year’s award were anthropologist Melani Budianta, sociologist Ery Seda, psychologist Kristi Purwandari, legislator Maria Ulfah Anshor, actress Nurul Arifin and regional representatives council member Ichsan Loulembah.

Maria Ulfah, who is also chairman of Fatayat, the women’s wing of the country’s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, was the award’s first recipient in 2004 for her research on abortion and Islamic laws.

Saparinah is a psychology lecturer at the University of Indonesia and was formerly the chairman of the National Commission on Violence Against Women.

Besides devoting her energy and resources to proposing legislation to advance women’s rights, Muthmainah founded in 2002 Sikola Mobine, an informal school that nurtures leadership and activism in young women and Rumah Banua Nunggana, a halfway house for the victims of child abuse in Palu.

Because of Muthmainah’s work, the administration of her district of North Palu has set up a fund for women and child victims of violence.

“I once escaped a rape attempt by my uncle. I am still traumatized by the experience,” Muthmainah said in giving her reasons for setting up the halfway house.

When she was a student in Palu, Muthmainah joined the National Democratic Student League, the student wing of the People’s Democratic Party (PRD).

“I was a leftist and a feminist and joined demonstrations against the government,” said Muthmainah, who wears a Muslim headscarf.

After graduating from university, Muthmainah joined the Alkhaerat Muslim Women’s Organization. She is also member of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence in Sulawesi and nonprofit group Evergreen Indonesia.

Muthmainah is aware of the divisiveness among activists and the community and always tries to be inclusive, allowing people to feel like they too can join the rights movement. She began her acceptance speech with several greetings: “Assalamualaikum, Shalom, Om Swastiastu and good afternoon“.

Her activities sometimes make her forget about her personal life.

“I started working with my non-governmental organization one month after giving birth. I couldn’t stay at home keeping silent,” Muthmainah said.

A. Junaidi