Kompas.id – Several years ago, farmers in Ciamis, Garut, Tasikmalaya, and Pangandaran Regencies, West Java, began recognizing women as equals to men. This opened up space for women to organize, learn, and even receive land rights.
"Our big dream is to get an education to improve the welfare and guide our children," – Farmer from Ciamis and also ARAS alumnus, Siti Suryani (32).
In the past, women didn't always have a place in community deliberation forums. Discussion spaces and local farmer organizations were dominated by men. Women's presence in these forums wasn't considered significant. They ultimately chose to sit in the background without meaningful participation.
Conditions slowly changed when gender equality issues were discussed within farmer organizations affiliated with the Pasundan Farmers Union (SPP). SPP members are farmers in Ciamis, Garut, Tasikmalaya, and Pangandaran Regencies. Gender equality issues were discussed around 2016, after the national conference of the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA). SPP is a fostered organization KPA.
The issue of gender equality was not immediately accepted by society. Patriarchal culture remains deeply rooted, and religious teachings also determine gender roles.
It took years for women to finally be able to actualize their rights. SPP Deputy for Legal Affairs Erni Kartini stated that community land certificates are now divided into the names of husbands and wives. If there are children, the certificates are divided into three parts: the father, mother, and child.
A total of 54 female farmers from the SPP (Student Farmers' Association) participated in the True Agrarian Reform Academy (ARAS) at the end of December 2022. ARAS is an educational program designed to prepare female farmers to become agrarian reform cadres. The program aims to equip participants with knowledge of agrarian reform law, rights to agrarian resources, and build self-confidence. Alumni will be deployed to various provinces to support farmer organizations facing a shortage of cadres.
ARAS alumni Indah Permatasari and Siti Suryani stated that the training provided a new understanding of the importance of fighting for land rights. Some participants still face challenges such as family permission and social stigma against women active outside the home.
Secretary General KPADewi Kartika stated that ARAS will be developed into an educational institution managed independently by farmers. The institute, named ARAS Siti Halimah, will be built in Ciamis Regency.
The ARAS program and the construction of ARAS Siti Halimah are funded through the Nusantara Fund. This fund is a joint initiative. KPA, Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), and the Indigenous Peoples' Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN), which is distributed directly to indigenous or local communities. The funds are used for, among other things, land restoration and the construction of community education centers.
"Some of the funds will be used for ARAS, while the remainder will be channeled to a community cooperative to build ARAS Siti Halimah. Fundamentally, the Nusantara Fund is a support system to ensure the community's existing social capital is not diminished," Dewi said.
source: https://www.kompas.id/baca/humaniora/2023/05/17/perempuan-tak-lagi-sekadar-kasur-dapur-dan-sumur
