By Harry Jacques
SUKOHARJO, Indonesia, May 13 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - On a grass verge by a road dissecting miles of rice fields in Central Java province, a group of volunteers with Aisyiyah, Indonesia s oldest Islamic women s movement, walk along a row of mahogany, sengon and teak trees they recently planted.
A short drive away, Ismokoweni, who leads Aisyiyah s local environmental chapter and goes by one name, picks her way past painted gravestones towards an area of damaged forest where the group has also planted seedlings.
After a drought dried up wells here, members purchased gallons of water from the local utility for affected households, Ismokoweni told the Thomson Reuters Foundation shortly before Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Medan, Indonesia – An incident involving child abuse in Medan, North Sumatra, has highlighted the need for Indonesian schools and local authorities to better protect their students, especially when the perpetrators are religious leaders, experts said.
Six female students went to a school in Medan last month to denounce the sexual assault of the organization, also a Protestant priest.
Mira , the mother of an alleged victim, told Al Jazeera that her 13-year-old daughter had been taken to a local motel at least four times since the age of 11, where she was sexually assaulted.
“My daughter said the principal told other staff that she was taking karate practices outside of school,” Mira said. “When they arrived at the hotel, he removed her clothes, covered her eyes and forced her to give oral sex. When he tried to resist, he threw his head down to force him to continue. “
"It was hard for us before COVID-19, but it has become even harder now," said Ayu Oktariani, the National Coordinator of the Indonesia Positive Network.
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ICWAP staff distributing emergency supplies, including food and sanitary products, to women and girls living with HIV in western Nepal at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020
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“It was hard for us before COVID-19, but it has become even harder now,” said Ayu Oktariani, the
“It was hard for us before COVID-19, but it has become even harder now,” said Ayu Oktariani, the National Coordinator of the Indonesia Positive Network of Women Living with HIV (IPPI). For more than 10 years, she has been working with women and adolescents living with HIV who have been subjected to domestic violence in Indonesia, providing them with psychosocial support and counselling. Since the first COVID-19 outbreak, she has seen increased requests for help, as violence has escalated alarmingly.