1. Background (brief history)

Violence against women with religious misinterpretation and justification is a serious issue in Indonesia. To tackle that, the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment partnered with UNFPA and Puan Amal Hayati to build an initiative to empower women, prevent violence against women and provide services for survivors.

Puan Amal Hayati is a social-humanitarian institution founded in Jakarta on July 3, 2000 on the initiative with a number of academics, community boarding schools, and social activists who have concern for the empowerment of women, especially in efforts to eliminate violence against them. It uses religion to raise awareness on violence against women, and it was created with the main objective to work with Islamic boarding schools - pesantren - to empower women, prevent violence against women and provide services for survivors.

 

   2. Areas of expertise

Puan Amal Hayati with the support of the the Ministy of Women Empowerment and UNFPA, works through a number of Islamic boarding schools to create the Women’s Crisis Centres (PUSPITA). These Centres provide:

• Psychological counseling through hotlines/telephones

• In-person counseling

• Legal aid

• Economic empowerment activities

• Other interventions

• Education and communication campaigns

 

   3. Strengths in the ICPD

Puan Amal Hayati integrates the Islamic religion and women’s empowerment. It works through its network of PUSPITAs to help women to realize that violence against women is not tolerated by Islam and that religion can never be used to justify such violence. This informational component of the programme has further empowered women to recognize that there is no shame in disclosing that they are survivors of wife-beating, rape, sexual assault and other forms of violence. It also works by providing support to victims, making the Women’s Crisis Centres a safe place for them.
The organization acts, therefore, to promote gender equality, women empowerment, reproductive health and to prevent gender-based violence.

 

   4. Quality assurance/ previous evaluation

Puan Amal Hayati has had its work recognized in publications from various NGOs and international organizations like UNFPA, and in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, featured as a successful and innovative approach.