Tari, Deputy Head of the Village Independent Women's Union, Labuhan Batu, North Sumatra

Abstract

Tari'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.

Tari is the Deputy Head of the village Independent Women's Union and Head of the Community Based Service in Labuhan Batu, North Sumatra. She began to be involved in the Independent Women's Union (SPI) in 2015, when she was invited by her neighbour, the then Head. While reluctant at first, Tari says that since joining the SPI, she has experienced many positive changes, including becoming more confident to voice her opinion in public, developing her leadership capabilities and improving her group work skills. Through training about how to respond to domestic violence, Tari became more confident to mediate couple's problems and offer support. The work of the SPI led to the establishment of the Community Based Service for victims of domestic violence and the enactment of Village Regulation on the Implementation of the Protection of Women and Children Victims of Violence. Reflecting on her work, Tari thinks that village women's problems, particularly violence, are no longer regarded as private matters, but rather collective issues. The existence of the Community Based Service has also pushed other village actors to be responsible for the many cases of violence against women.