On October 3rd eleven Australian women and their tour coordinator came to Rifka Annisa as part of their all female travel group called Women and Power. The group of women are from all across Australia and they are currently in Indonesia for two weeks. They started their time in Bali for a one-week conference where each woman presented on their field of expertise. The women are from an array of backgrounds and fields such as; mental health workers, occupational therapists, university lecturers, social workers and entrepreneurs. One woman in particular just happened to be my mother’s childhood best friend. It was a complete coincidence she came to Rifka Annisa on my very first day as an intern. She has worked in the Mental Health field for more than twenty years.
One ran a wonderful session on the vision, mission and work of Rifka Annisa, which was very informative and insightful for the Australian women. As part of their travels they visit Women’s organisations and were very pleased and encouraging of the work of Rifka Annisa. Women and power have been organising such trips for roughly twelve years and they have travelled to various other countries such as Cambodia as well Indonesia.
After the session One left it open for question time and the women had some great questions. The first was about the influence of alcohol and substance abuse in Indonesia and whether or not it is a strong contributing factor to gender-based violence in Indonesia, as it is in Australia where it is a strong contributing factor. Such a question lead to the discussion and final agreement that Power Relations are the cornerstone of gender-based violence both in Indonesia and Australia but they are stimulated differently in varying contexts. For example, in Australia alcohol and illicit substance abuse induces power relations and cultural values induce power relations here in Indonesia.
There were other interesting questions about Rifka Annisa and the issue of gender-based violence in Indonesia. Questions on the funding of Rifka Annisa, our work with children through ‘Rifka goes to School’, support services for women once they leave their abusive relationships and one about Rifka Annisa’s connections with International Bodies and Organisations. The connection with UNICEF was discussed as well as the association with The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and one woman who currently works for an organisation in Australia not too dissimilar from Rifka Annisa expressed her desire to potentially collaborate with Rifka Annisa in the future. Such an expression of interest definitely emanates the positive reputation built by Rifka Annisa and the clever methods used here to achieve a gender just society here in Indonesia.
After the session and during the coffee break and tour of the centre all the women had such positive remarks to share about their time at the Women’s Crisis Centre. It was a fantastic visit enjoyed by both the Australian visitors and the staff and interns here at Rifka Annisa.
