Srikandi, 'Aisyiyah Cadre, Cirebon, West Java

Abstract

Srikandi's story is part of a peer-reviewed edited volume of women's life stories that draws on detailed ethnographic research of village women's lived experiences and how they, individually and collectively, have taken action to influence village development in Indonesia's multi-level governance structure under the new Village Law in Indonesia. The analysis identifies the processes of women's empowerment, their involvement in grassroots women's collective action, engagement with civil society organisations, and how women influence village institutions, policies, development spending and priorities, and new projects as well as social norms in communities.

Srikandi is an 'Aisyiyah cadre and active community member of her village in Cirebon, West Java. In 2014 she was selected to become an 'Aisyiyah reproductive health cadre, helping educate women in her village about reproductive health, and furthering her own knowledge. She also visits patients to inform them about diseases and to encourage them to seek and maintain treatment, as well as explaining how to use medications. Sri has become a contact person for women who have health concerns, she talks to local women, examines women who are worried about growing lumps in their breasts and encourages them to be checked. Sri's sense of empathy, which has been supported by 'Aisyiyah's district leaders, has strengthened her resolve to work with the community health centre. The community has increasingly recognised Sri's dedication to her work. In 2018, Srikandi was elected as head of her Rukun Warga local government division in a meeting attended only by men, and in 2019 she was also selected as one of sixteen women in Indonesia to International Women's Day event "Listening to Grassroots Women".