UNAIR NEWS – A professor of Gender Sociology at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences Universitas Airlangga, Prof. Dr. Emy Susanti, MA., reveals the number one challenge faced by women in the world, including Indonesia. That is, no one recognizes what a woman does and thinks of.

“It is as if women are considered to be clueless about how to educate their kids. It’s a big mistake,” Emy affirmed. “Who teach the kids how to read Quran, how to speak, it’s the mother. That’s why women have to be recognized,” she added.

The opinion that women are under recognized was proven true by Emy herself when she conducted a research for her dissertation back in 2003 in Sulawesi. “Mothers there only eat twice a day. When I asked them why they said, “It is okay, I’m not hungry anyway. My kids have needs for school.” Imagine that, they also work. That is why they need to be recognized, and then empowered after that,” said the lecturer of Gender and Issue Perspective subject.

Women Circumcision

Concerning a recent research, Emy said, her party is doing a research about women circumcision. For the record, the number of women circumcision in Indonesia is considered high. What makes it more complicated; the women circumcision in Indonesia which is known by the world is categorized as female genital mutilation (FGM), similar to the one in Africa. The problem is, in Africa women will be circumcised if they have some disease.

“This is why the ministry finally gave a task to Gender Study Centers, one of them is UNAIR, to do a research about women circumcision,” explained the Chairman of Children and Women/Gender Study Centers Association in Indonesia.

The finding from the research is that the concept of circumcision in Indonesia is different from Africa. Technically, the concept of women circumcision in Indonesia is only “to scratch”. Nevertheless, Emy found herself shocked by another finding, which is the meaning behind women circumcision. Many parents give eccentric meaning and opinion about women circumcision; one of them is to control women’s sex drive.

“To eliminate the meaning given by them is difficult. We had to show our research data. Until finally, our midwifes when on duty helping a mother give birth, said that their baby girl had been circumcised, yet in fact they didn’t do anything,” she explained.

“Well, if we didn’t research we wouldn’t know that in reality there are meanings which don’t make sense. Come on, circumcision has something to do with sex drive, very funny,” she added.

After conducting the research, the finding data will be delivered to the government of Indonesia to be reported directly to the UN, and at the same time state that the case of women circumcision in Indonesia is different from Africa.

“But what needs to be eliminated is how they give meaning to this thing. If to remove sex drive, that is wrong. Thus, women circumcision has to put to an end not because it is dangerous, but to eliminate the ideology on which they base this,” said the Chairman of Indonesian Women – Building the Nation Alliance.

Author: Dilan Salsabila
Editor: Defrina Sukma S