Zubaidah Djohar
Penyair, Peneliti dan Aktivis HAM
[email protected]

Good afternoon Everyone. It is an honour for me to see all of you here, and to listen to such powerful messages raised by wonderful speakers. I would like to express my gratitude to several people behind this event. I thank Mbakyu Jacinta Kurniasih, Mas Usman Hamid, and Mas Fitrian Ardiansyah for speaking. My publisher Mas Agus Sarjono from Komodo Books, and the support team Miss Nanda, Tgk Muhammad Riza, Najib Kailani,  Patrick Anderson and Evi Eliyanah who shared their testimonials. My deep appreciation and respect to Mas Amrih Widodo and Professor Kathy Robinson who never tire of spreading peace and harmony in Indonesia and Aceh as well. Also to Heather Curnow, a patient and meticulous translator. The support of all of you has made this event possible. I don’t have enough words to express this beautiful feeling. Last but not least, to my lovely hearts Fayyaz and Fata who teach mommy to be firm in a way of humanity through their innocent and sincere love. And, thanks for Fajran Zain, a man who has known me since I was 17, for his enthusiasm in supporting this moment.

There are three things I want to emphasize about this book launch and seminar. Firstly, what we are doing today is to fulfill a moral obligation, to open up and widen information, to discuss and maintain our memories. As Paul Ricouer said “We are preventing killing victims for the second time, so let their voices be heard and make those voices become important to us” We have a moral debt to victims everywhere and this is how we should repay it. Remembering is a way to uphold justice. This is the main reason why this book was written. As the author, I can not claim to fully represent the experiences of conflict victims. These poems cannot be compared with their suffering.  This is only the testimonial of a researcher and human rights activist.

Secondly: the writing process. I made some poems during my field work research entitled "Women and Peace" (in 2008), and more poems during my trip to 300 villages all over Aceh to facilitate training of political leadership and conflict resolution for village leaders (in 2009). Their words pop into my mind spontaneously anytime I am alone. One poem I wrote is called “The Old Well", after meeting a blind woman who was raped by soldiers during the conflict. The peace agreement of 2005 did not change her situation; she was still poor and severely traumatized. She spends all her days at the well showering to purify herself. She feels dirty due to that rape. At another time I met a woman who had an issue of reproductive health, her breasts were wounded, and her vagina constantly bleeding due to the rape, and she treated those wounds with leaves from wild plants in the backyard.

I met women who had been accused of spying and feeding the rebels who hide in her house, or because she is a daughter or sister of a freedom fighter. I met a woman who had not a even a word to say after her husband was shot and raped her daughter in front of her in the Rumoh Geudong. I met a woman who took charge as a village leader after all residents, mostly young males, left the village to survive. In this role she had to negotiate with the army, protect the remaining elderly people, children and male residents, and even collect dead bodies found in the street. Unfortunately, after peacetime none of her efforts were recognized and her leadership was considered against Islamic law.

Some poems reflect peace progress in Aceh and the misuse of Islamic law implementation. I wrote a poem “Building a Boat in Paradise” in 2011 describing a naive condition of Aceh. Despite aid pouring in from all over the world to help with post-tsunami and post-conflict recoveries, the victims, especially women and children, were left behind by these agendas. Violence against women in the name of religion, corruption, and poverty are increasing. Peace seems distant from the 2005 Helsinki spirit.

The third factor is accountability. This is the second version of the book and written in English. It contains only 30 selected poems related to the peace progress in Aceh as we are commemorating 9 years of the peace agreement (15 August 2005 to 15 August 2014). The first version, written in bahasa Indonesia was entitled “Pulang, Melawan Lupa (Coming Home, Resisting Forgetting)” published in February 2012. It was launched in Aceh and attended by the government, religious leaders, customary leaders, activists and writers. The book has been discussed at ANU, and Marcus Mietzner was a Moderator. It has also been discussed in several other places in Indonesia, such as Padang, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Semarang, Jepara, Madiun, and twice in Kuala Lumpur at major international literary events (2012 and 2013). 

Please bear in mind, it is not only about launching and reading the poetry, but a strategic campaign to fight against silence and denial, to uphold justice. And to restore the rights of victims.  It is not merely writing and speaking, but working and contributing as well.

I will close my testimony today with this simple statement:

chronic wounds, 
non-stop disappointments,
various illnesses,
stings in every way,
thorns in every gaze,
antipathy in any connection
but sincerity
only sincerity will heal
as love is a concern
as love is an act
let’s welcome a peace day for us
thank you very much ! 

Dewi Candraningrum
Chief Editor Jurnal Perempuan (Indonesian Feminist Journal)
[email protected]

In July Chris Vogel wrote in Washingtonian, a monthly magazine distributed in Washington since 1965 focuses on feature journalism, politics and lifestyle.  He wrote a specific concern on the appalling fate of two Indonesian migrant workers being enslaved in the house of Syrian-American woman, Farah Atassi. He narrated the fate of “Sinta”—under a pseudo name for protection. On 23 July Agatha Schamedick Tan contacted Jurnal Perempuan regarding the information on Sumaya who was back in Lombok and lost contact with her. Agatha’s work is focusing on domestic workers and labor trafficking for the Asia Pacific American Legal Resource Center (APALRC). She is now helping bringing the case of Indonesian migrant workers under Atassi’s abuse to the court in Virginia. Agatha is looking for other evidence, which is the previous worker who was also being abused and enslaved by Atassi. Her name is Sumaya—was another worker who was trafficked before her client and overlapped with her client briefly in the U.S.  This other victim, Sumaya, went back to Lombok a few years ago and Agatha is trying to find her to get a witness statement. So, in a nutshell, she is asking for help trying to find someone in Lombok. It might sound like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but it is very important for justice to prevail, reported Agatha. Jurnal Perempuan then tried to identify and locate women's organization or advocate in Lombok who might be able to help with this and still in process.

Agatha emailed us as follows: “her name is Sumaya/ Sumaiyah (last name unknown).  She has two grown children, one of whom is named Erwan. Her husband left her many years ago and she does not know if he is dead or alive, remarried or what.  Sumaya is in her late 40's or early 50's by now.  Sumaya has long black hair and fairly pale skin.  She's is average build for an Indonesian woman, not fat or super thin.  Sumaya has lived in Lombok most of her life, but she worked in the United States for the better part of seven years, from approximately—the entire time as a pembantu (domestic worker) in the Washington DC/ Northern Virginia area for the employer Ms. Farah Atassi (a Syrian-American woman).  Sumaya worked for Ms. Atassi as a nanny/babysitter for Ms. Atassi's two kids Ayah & Hadi, and also as a cook for Ms. Atassi's business in DC, a restaurant called Zenobia Lounge. Sumaya first came to the U.S. in approximately 2004 via an Indonesian-Egyptian recruiter Nura Ziadeh, known as Ibu "Nuroh" or "Nuris."  Nura Ziadeh has a home base in both Surabaya and Jakarta, and she is known for having recruited and trafficked many Indonesian to the U.S.  Indeed, Nura Ziadeh is now in jail in the United States for having trafficked so many Indonesian women to the U.S.  After working in the U.S. for Farah Atassi two years (2004-2006) Sumaya went back to Lombok. Soon after returning home to Lombok in 2006, Farah Atassi called Sumaya directly and begged her to come back and work again in America. Farah Atassi promised Sumaya a salary of $1000 USD/ month. Sumaya then returned to the U.S. and continued working for Farah Atassi for many years, until August 2011 when my client, “Sinta”, was recruited (also by Nura Ziadeh) to replace her.  When “Sinta” met Sumaya at the Atassi home in Vienna, Virginia, Sumaya was not well. Sumaya was exhausted and suffering from a lot of backaches and other body pain from too many years of working long hours—she was forced to work largely without break from 2006 to 2011. To make matters worse, Farah Atassi had not paid Sumaya for most of the time she was working there. Farah Atassi kept promising that she would pay her "when it was time to go home." In 2011 when it was time for Sumaya to go and “Sinta” to start, Sumaya was told that she was only going to be paid $500 USD/ month for her many years of dedciated service. Farah Atassi finally allowed Sumaya to return home to Lombok in September, 2011. “Sinta” has tried calling Sumaya via her son's (Erwan's) cell phone since then, but it seems the phone number is no longer in service”.

Agatha is now in process of litigating this case. Indonesian domestic worker who was trafficked to America and elsewhere (mainly to Middle East and Malaysia) and forced to work largely without pay are abundant, ubiquitous and most of the time invisible. Agatha, Jurnal Perempuan and other three Sahabat Jurnal Perempuan (Friend of Jurnal Perempuan) in Lombok are now trying very hard to look for Sumaya—in order to bring justice for both Sumaya dan “Sinta” for the abuse they suffered at the hands of Farah Atassi. Dian Aryani (Yayasan Tunas Alam Indonesia), Yuni Riawati (Jaringan Masyarakat Sipil Lombok Barat) and Ririn Hayudiani (Lembaga Pengembangan Sumber Daya Mitra) have been for several days trying to locate Sumaya but in vain. Any readers please kindly assist us in locating Sumaya in Lombok. Any suffered migrants workers abroad being enslaved would love nothing more than to bring justice to both. 

Andi Misbahul Pratiwi & Anita Dhewy
(Jurnal Perempuan)
[email protected]
​

Nowadays, climate change has become a buzz word, everywhere people talk about it, but most of them think that climate change is something given or only nature problem not as human problem, not as gender and youth problem. So, what happens then is that the response does not look at the underlying causes of climate change and global warming associated with an expansive and extractive development model that does not pay attention to the sustainability and respect for the earth and other creatures outside of humans. In the Paris Agreement Document—at Climate Change Conference took place in Paris 2015—for the first time a legal binding document was agreed, and it led the related parties to ratify the document. In addition, for the first time, there was also a global agreement that all states declared the temperature rise should be withheld or stopped at a maximum of 2 degrees. With the current pattern and model of development that by the majority not to say all the countries in the world, projected by the end of this decade the earth experiences a temperature rise until 3 degrees Celsius. This condition has a very wide impact such as changes in the growing season that can lead to unsuccessful planting and crop failure. In addition the rainy season becomes shorter but with higher intensity rainfall that triggers flash floods, landslides, and so on. Medium dry season becomes longer and very extreme to cause drought.

In last decade we have seen the increasing of hydrometeorological disaster or disaster caused by climate change. Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) noted that during 2016 there were 2,342 event of disasters or increase 35% compared to the event of disasters by 2015. About 92% of those event of disasters are hydrometeorological disasters dominated by floods, landslides and tornadoes. National losses due to disasters each year in Indonesia reach Rp40 trillion. The amount has covered losses due to climate change. A similar picture also occurs in the Asia Pacific region. In 2016, floods, storms and extreme temperatures killed 4,987 people and affected 35 million people and caused estimated damage of about $77 billion. Compared to historical standards, there were fewer disasters in 2016, but they still took a heavy toll (ESCAP 2017). Asia Pacific, as home to 60 million of the world's population, is the most disaster-prone region on the planet. The risk of disasters in this region can be exacerbated by climate change. The disaster included more life-threatening heatwaves, worsening floods and droughts, more frequent and stronger tropical storms, and more severe rainy seasons in East Asia and India.

Climate change affects everyone, man, women, girls, boys, and vulnerable groups differently. The Difference is rooted in unequal power relation and harmful gender norms, age and gender are the factors. Given existing gender inequalities and development gaps, climate change ultimately places a greater burden on women. Men and women are affected by climate change in different ways, because the societal and cultural roles and responsibilities placed on them by families and communities are very different. For examples in rural areas, women are the primary food producers and providers of water and cooking fuel for their families, they have greater responsibility for family and community welfare. A number of existing data and research show the impact of climate change has more effect on women and girls, not only on their body condition but also on their roles. In some areas in Indonesia there is still a role gap and involvement which makes the position of women and girls more vulnerable in the context of accepting the impacts of climate change. We also see the different roles, status, power and economy between women and men that cause women to be part of the largest beneficiary group of climate change. 

Related to sustainable development on goal number 1, end poverty in all its forms everywhere, we should realize that ending poverty is a particularly pertinent youth issue, as those aged 15 to 24 are most likely to be among the working poor. Poverty is still an unresolved problem in Indonesia and has the greatest impact on women and girls. When we are talking about poverty, it is important to recognize that within poor families, it is girls and women who are most suffer the effect of poverty. Gender inequality places girls as second priorities after boys in term of education, food, and other opportunity. In poor families girls are burdened with more responsibilities related to domestic work than boys. Poor girls are particularly vulnerable as they experience multiple layers of oppresion which limit their access to opportunities and availability of choices. This situation is getting worse in a time of crisis. When extreme weather events hit community, girls and women bear the heaviest impact and they have fewer resources with which to cope. When clean water becomes more difficult to find, girls will go further to acquire it and place them in situations that are vulnerable to physical and sexual violence from boys and men. Girls are more likely to quit school than boys when the family economy gets worse. The opportunity to go to school is given to boys with the assumption that they will be the breadwinner and head of the family. In such situations, marrying girls is seen as a solution that can reduce the economic burden of the family. Other factors such as religious and cultural views and local customs are also influential. Child marriages in Asia and the Pacific are still very high, Indonesia is also ranked second in Southeast Asia after Cambodia. 

Related to goal number 3, ensure healthy live and promote well-being for all at all ages, there are some problems faced by youth in Asia Pacific regarding this issue. Adolescent fertility rates are amongst the highest in the world, while not all pregnant adolescents are guaranteed ante-natal care. In addition, female youth, relative to female children and older women, are particularly vulnerable to physical violence, sexual violence and harmful practices, often resulting in disability and death. Meanwhile it is estimated 620,000 youth living with HIV and about one-third of new infections in the region occur in this age-group (UNAIDS 2013). 

In some areas of Asia and the Pacific, young people's access to sexual and reproductive health and rights is still a problem. The strengthening of religious conservatism in some countries in Asia Pacific, such as Indonesia, makes it more difficult for young people to access SRHR. For young people living in remote areas, the situation will be more difficult, not only because of geographical factors but also because of limited information. The absence of comprehensive sexual education in the school curriculum further deprives them of adequate knowledge of their bodies and their sexuality. Girls face more difficult situations associated with biased cultural and religious views. 

Adolescent pregnancy puts young women at risk of haemorrhaging, spontaneous abortion, unsafe abortions and premature labor, as well as negatively impacting education, employment and civic engagement opportunities. Pregnancy in adolescent girls with a history of anemia due to poverty they face, will have an impact on infants born with potentially stunting. In situations where natural disasters events as a result of climate change are more frequent, the position of girls will be more vulnerable. Displacement sites for disaster victims are not always made with regard to the interests of girls and women as well as girls with disabilities. Health and sanitation facilities have not considered their needs. 

Under Goal 5 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the global community has committed to the elimination of “all forms of violence against women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation” and of “all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation”. A number of countries in Asia and the Pacific do not yet have laws that protect women and girls from sexual violence. Indonesia for example, only has laws that regulate the elimination of domestic violence, but other types of sexual violence have not been regulated. On the other hand, efforts to encourage laws that comprehensively protect women from sexual crimes are hampered by religious fundamentalists seeking to widen their influence. 

Meanwhile, as family economic conditions worsen due to floods, droughts and other disasters, girls and women will be more vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse or to be victims of early marriage / childhood. Girls who marry at a young age and then get pregnant have a great risk when giving birth. They also missed the opportunity to go to school, which then narrowed their chances of getting into the labor market. This makes their bargaining position with their husbands weaker and puts them in a cycle of poverty. 

Goal 6, ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. As a country where one third of the territory is water, Indonesia has an important role in ensuring access to clean water and sanitation for its citizens, underwater survival, and the world climate change movement. Three are out of ten people in the world or 2.1 billion people do not have access to clean water in their homes. Six out of ten or 4.7 million people in the world do not have good sanitation management (WHO 2017). Women and girls spend 6 hours of their time each day taking water (https://water.org/our-impact/water-crisis/). 

Climate change worsens the condition of women and girls in accessing clean water and proper sanitation. The life of women and girls are closely connected with water. Their household duties are exhausting; almost half of their time is spent doing labor like collecting water. Women are the primary users of water: cooking, cleaning, family hygiene, and sanitation. Despite the understanding of women regarding nature and the availability of water, children’s ability to access nature and their experience as managers of the sources of water for their families, this knowledge is often scorned or simply ignored by policy makers and engineers. Girls and women in particular, face significant sanitation challanges with lack of menstruals hygiene management and hygiene promotion. This conditon worse when sanitation facilities and clean water not accessible for them. Climate change worsens the condition of women and girls; they must go further to access clean water for their sanitation and their family needs, uncertain weather, and prolonged drought. Sustainable access to water and sanitation, particularly for young women and girls, can help them regularly and safely participate in productive activities such as education.


SDGs Goal 7 focuses on sustainable energy, incorporating targets for renewable energy production, energy eficiency, and energy access.  Access to clean and efficient energy is critical for economic progres, human welfare and environmental well-being. Based on World Bank data (2013, 2015) more than 24 million Indonesian households still use traditional cooking stoves. Kopernik an NGO in Bali, is trying to solve the problem by channeling appropriate technology in East Nusa Tenggara/Nusa Tengga Timur (NTT), one of remote area Indonesia. Kopernik distributes Biomass Stove to women and girls in NTT to help them do their house chores. This stove is a very useful innovation of women in NTT. Previously, women in NTT used stoves that earn smoke which is potentially damaging women's health. The Biomass stove is very efficient, they can use wooden sticks, coconut shells and wood shavings for fuels. Although the stove also uses wood, this Biomass Stove does not smoke as in the furnace and more energy efficient. This innovation is very helpful for women in that region. In addition, this appropriate technology can reduce carbon production and contribute to the decrease in CO2 that causes climate change, it’s one of way to mitigating climate change. 

We know that the status and prospects for girls and women are the most important indicator of our world’s stability, prosperity, and safety. We must acknowledge and realize that girls have unique potentials, they have a central role in families that depend on farming or livestock when coping with extreme weather events such as drought or flood. Therefore prioritizing education for girls is an important step in the mitigation of climate change. Study held by the Brookings Institution shows that empowering girls and women through a combination of education and family planning is the number one thing the world can do to address climate change. The study suggests that for every additional year of schooling a girl receives on average, her country’s resilience to climate disasters can be expected to improve by 3.2 points (as measured by the ND-GAIN Index, which calculates a country’s vulnerability to climate change in relation to its resilience). Therefore, there are platform in which each party can collaborate to support girls as agents of change in the pursuit of sustainable development and equitable climate action: (1) promote girls' reproductive rights. Global community must approach women’s reproductive health from a gender justice and rights-based perspective delivered through quality girls’ education programming. (2) Invest in girls’ education to foster climate participation and leadership. (3) Develop girls’ life skills for a green economy.  


Young People Play a Crucial Role in Achieving SDGs 
Asia and the pacific are home to 60% of the global population aged 15-24 years (UNDP 2017). Base on population proportions, around 85 million youth in Asia-Pacific are living in extreme poverty. In Indonesia one of five people (between 15-24 years old) represents approximately 63 million youth (33% of Indonesia’s total population is productive age). Young people is not a homogenous entity. Youth are a population group defined by age. Great variance exists among persons aged 15 to 24 years, within and between countries in Asia and the Pacific, and beyond. The diversity of youth is reflected in such other common demographic variables as sex, gender, sexuality, dis/ability, education, employment, income, fertility, health, civil status, citizenship, ethnicity, religion, language and geographic location. 

Currently Indonesia is entering the demographic dividend era and the peak is projected to occur in 2028-2031. The demographic dividend, also known as the dependency ratio, occurs when the ratio of young people (15 years and younger) and old people (65 and older) to people at a productive age (15-64 years) shrinks. A demographic dividend occurs when the number of people of working age is higher than the number of dependents— that is the elderly and children. The ratio of the elderly and children to the working age population, known as the dependency ratio, is low. A low dependency ratio indicates that potentially more people can be productive and contribute to the growth of economy, leading to unprecedented economic growth.

Although young people have benefitted from the region’s social and economic dynamism, but significant numbers of youth across the region still face a variety of obstacles in their access to employment, education and healthcare. This situation is getting worse when natural disasters and extreme weather events occur. Young people, especially those facing structural disadvantages, suffer disproportionately in labour markets in times of crisis, and these impacts are likely to be exacerbated by climate change. Regarding education issue, extreme weather events have been shown to reduce participation, especially female youth, in education since the burden of schooling costs becomes higher and the need for adolescents and young people to contribute economically to households becomes greater. Moreover, climate crises can increase malnutrition among adolescents—through food shortages resulting from lower agricultural yields or loss in livelihoods opportunities—with potentially long-term health consequences, such as complications with pregnancy. 

The demographic bonus can be a demographic disaster if young people in Indonesia do not have access to good education, health rights and infrastructure, decent work and space and facility to increase their innovations. This has already happen in many remote areas of Indonesia. East Nusa Tenggara/Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT), as one province experiencing a high rate of loss in the number of its productive people moving out to urban areas on other major islands, sees a very small benefit from its demographic dividend. Although economic growth in NTT is considered as moderate, about 5.04 percent in 2014, that growth failed to reduce poverty and to improve the human development progress of its people. The poverty rate in NTT is high, 19.60 percent in 2014. Its HDI is the second lowest of the 33 provinces.

In Indonesia, young people also play an important role in SDGs movements. With the presence of technology, young Indonesians use it to provide mentoring services, counseling and education. For example there is a portal website known as HelpNona.com which provides counseling for young women who experience violence in romantic relationship, and also education about responsible relationship. In the field of education and technology, there is a community known as Girls in Tech Indonesia—as a chapter of global Girls in Tech—who empowers women in technology. In the context of education, social and humanity, there are several portals such as Indorelawan.org; a portal that connects volunteers with organizations across Indonesia, KitaBisa.com; as a portal for raising donation, ruangguru.com; an educational startup, Lactashare Child; as a startup for providing breast milk for babies across Indonesia to prevent malnutrition. In doing so, the young people have shown that they have an important role in achieving SDGs alongside with technology that has been being a very powerful tools in the millennial era.

Dewi Candraningrum
(Pemimpin Redaksi Jurnal Perempuan & Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta) 
[email protected]

Kesadaran Sejarah Palsu

Sejarah bukan merupakan konsep objektif per se, tetapi di dalamnya mengandung konsep dan ruang kritis terhadap narasi, plot dan penokohannya. Ruang kritis ini, sayangnya, telah lama menjadi korban dari dinamika sosial yang menghilangkan mereka dari konten dan konsep tentang sejarah itu sendiri. Ruang yang hilang tersebut melahirkan amnesia sosial, yang kemudian melahirkan kesadaran sejarah yang palsu (pseudo-historical consciousness). Amnesia sosial merupakan terminologi yang diciptakan untuk mengingat apa yang hilang dalam memori kolektif masyarakat. “Amnesia sosial” merupakan represi kolektif masyarakat terhadap ingatan di masa lalu (Jacoby, 1975). Amnesia sosial merupakan hasil dari represi memori yang dipaksakan, ketidakpedulian, perubahan situasi, atau impunitas yang dilakukan oleh kelompok tertentu dalam usaha menghapus jejak kejahatan di masa lalu dalam sejarah. Pemaksaan atas penghapusan memori ini mengubah identitas, dan pada tingkatan terburuk, merusak konstruksi identitas. Usaha-usaha untuk melawan amnesia sosial ini biasanya dilakukan dengan protes, kisah-kisah, memori lokal, nostalgia memori, memorialiasi, dan penulisan karya sastra—jika penulisan sejarah formal tidak dimungkinkan. Amnesia sosial terjadi jika sebuah masyarakat, atau warga negara, mengalami trauma hebat atas kejahatan-kejahatan yang pernah dilakukan oleh aktor-aktor politik atau penguasa sebelumnya. Ia sangat digemari, dan sangat diusahakan oleh penguasa yang memiliki rekam jejak buruk di masa lalu.

Amnesia sosial dapat dilawan dengan “politik memori”. Politik memori merupakan alat yang digunakan untuk merekam, mengingat atau mengedit dan mengkonstruksi sebuah versi fakta sejarah yang sebelumnya: dihilangkan, dikaburkan, dan disembunyikan (Nasrallah, 2005). Misalnya, korban-korban perkosaan yang dibungkam, atau orang-orang yang dihilangkan dengan paksa, dan penulisan buku sejarah formal yang tidak mencatat itu semua. Peran dan fungsi politik memori ini adalah menyusun strategi kolektif bagaimana kebenaran objektif dan ingatan dapat dihidupkan kembali. Politik memori ini diusahakan untuk menegakkan keadilan dan merestorasi hak-hak korban yang sebelumnya diabaikan dan ditindas begitu saja. Kerja memori dipengaruhi oleh kekuatan politik dan budaya. Kebijakan pemerintah, aturan sosial, budaya populer, norma-norma sosial memengaruhi bagaimana situasi diingat. Politik memori dipakai untuk melawan fasisme sekelompok masyarakat tertentu, yang atas nama “narasi agung” menjadikan yang lain sebagai entitas minor dan inferior, yaitu “Liyan”. Melawan amnesia sosial merupakan perihal penting dari kesehatan sebuah peradaban, karena yang melupakan kejahatan di masa lalu, biasanya akan mengulangi kejahatan tersebut di masa yang akan datang.

Kejahatan perang dan konflik merupakan ladang dari seluruh politik memori, dimana pemenang akan menuliskan sejarah dengan caranya yang tidak objektif. Melupakan, dalam teori psikologi, telah disamakan dengan impunitas—ketakterjamahan pelaku kejahatan terhadap hukuman. Impunitas dan amnesia sosial memberikan jalan kepada penjahat perang, pelaku perkosaan, penjahat kemanusiaan lepas dan melarikan diri dari tanggung jawab hukum yang harus dia pikul. Dan ini sangat berbahaya. Impunitas secara moral dan politik sangat berbahaya bagi kelangsungan sebuah negara, karena dia akan abai, atau bahkan, menjadikan kembali penjahat tersebut sebagai penguasa baru dengan wajah baru yang dipermak. Amnesia sosial ini berbahaya, karena ia dapat dipermainkan oleh praktik-praktik politik dan praktik-praktik kepercayaan yang buruk di masa akan datang.

Politik memori perlu dibangun, karena ia berfungsi untuk merehabilitasi dan mengusahakan rekonsiliasi dalam situasi pasca konflik. Bahkan, konflik internal yang sangat kejam di masa lalu dapat disembuhkan dengan politik memori. Dus, sejarah ditulis oleh para pemenang, tak berlaku lagi, bagi sebuah peradaban yang sehat. Jerman merupakan salah satu contoh negara yang menuliskan sejarah dengan menghidupkan memorialisasi-memorialisasi, yaitu mendirikan situs-situs ingatan, baik dalam bentuk fisik, maupun non-fisik. Fisik, misalnya monumen, museum, dan lain-lain. Non fisik, misalnya: penulisan sejarah dengan objektif dan mengakui para Liyan, penulisan buku sastra, pembuatan film, pengajaran sejarah dalam kurikulum-kurikulum sekolah dan universitas, dan lain-lain. Teori bahwa negara besar adalah negara yang agung, terbantahkan oleh satu contoh ini. Negara yang besar, adalah negara yang mengakui kecacatan dan dosa-dosanya di masa lampau.

Pulang Melawan Lupa sebagai Museum Aceh

Swara perempuan merupakan salah satu lokus yang selama ini banyak dihilangkan dalam penyakit akut amnesia sosial. Mengapa? Karena perempuan sulit menarasikan pengalamannya dalam narasi politik dan narasi formal. Dalam filsafat feminisme, kemudian dikenal, bahwa yang personal atas perempuan merupakan perihal yang politis, the personal is political (yang dipopulerkan oleh Carol Hanisch di tahun 1969). “Memori budaya” perempuan dibangun atas praktik-praktik representasi yang sifatnya personal dan berangkat dari fragmen-fragmen pengalaman. Ecriture feminine (meminjam Helene Cixous), merupakan pengumuman, bahwa yang “rasional” bukan satu-satunya sumber kebenaran. Bahwa “pengalaman” juga merupakan sumber kebenaran. Praktik-praktik sitasi, memorialisasi, jejak-jejak autobiografis baik dalam puisi, novel, drama juga merupakan usaha-usaha perempuan untuk menceritakan, menarasikan, dan menyusun sejarah yang selama ini dipinggirkan oleh sejarah formal negara yang sifatnya masih sangat bias dan patriarkis.

…
Jangan naif, Tuan
gunakan pedang pikirmu membaca realita ini
Tentang kemerdekaan dari luka sejarah
tentang damai dari kebodohan dan kesewenang-wenangan
tentang duduk semeja dengan kaum Cut Nyak Dhien
tentang ramuan obat untuk rahim-rahim yang diperkosa
tentang tangisan anak dhuafa untuk segelas susu
…

Zubaidah Djohar: Damai Siapa?, 2010

Kebenaran tidak ditemukan dalam narasi agung dan monumental, tetapi dalam fragmen-fragmen tersembunyi, yang dibisikkan pelan melalui puisi, misalnya. Memori dan konstruksi identitas perempuan diasah melalui narasi-narasi yang mencatat, merekam, menyimpan perkosaan, pelecehan seksual, pembunuhan, penghilangan paksa, penculikan, pemenjaraan yang semena-mena. Dengan ini dia membangun politik memorialisasi yang mencatat waktu dan ruang yang tak mungkin dijamah oleh sejarah formal. “Politik mengingat” ini membantu masyarakat “membaca” memori—bagaimana mereka mengontrol peristiwa-peristiwa traumatik dan penuh kekerasan dengan katarsis dan pelepasan (Nasrallah, 2005). Dan dia juga memaksa peradaban untuk mengingat dan melupakan secara adil (Alcock, 2002). Dengan cara ini nostalgia dibangun sebagai strategi “pendidikan” (paideia, kosa kata Yunani untuk merujuk ini). Museum merupakan perwujudan dari memori yang hidup, demikian rakyat Yunani menyusun strategi tentang kebijakan peradaban. Ini yang belum benar-benar dibangun di Indonesia. Membangun memori yang hidup. Penghargaan terhadap museum. Penghargaan terhadap cerita dan narasi Liyan dalam sejarah.

Buku Puisi Perempuan Bisu Pulang Melawan Lupa karya Zubaidah Djohar ini merupakan “museum yang hidup”. Bagaimana trauma perkosaan mendapatkan tempatnya dalam bab-bab narasi sejarah, yang tak mungkin dijumpai dalam sejarah formal Aceh atau Indonesia. Jejak-jejak darah vagina perempuan yang sobek, jejak-jejak tunas yang tumbuh di rahim-rahim perempuan Aceh mendapatkan lembar-lembarnya. Dan darinya pengadilan paling pertama, terhadap penjahat perang, mendapatkan hukumannya—dalam narasi “politik memori”. Membaca, mendengarkan, bagaimana puisi ini dibacakan merupakan sebuah jalan membangun retorika melawan kesewenangan dan ketakadilan zaman. Dengannya, pembaca memberikan telinganya untuk melakukan re-apropriasi bentuk sejarah baru yang lebih adil. Mengapa ini diperlukan? Karena kekerasan, trauma, perkosaan, siksaan, dalam sejarahnya, telah mengubah bagaimana perempuan “mengingat” (Castelli, 2004). Kekerasan mengubah struktur memori perempuan. Mengubah bagaimana dia berpikir, bagaimana dia mengingat. Reproduksi memori merupakan wujud dari reproduksi kekerasan yang pernah ia alami. Percakapan sejarah dapat dimulai dengan autobiografi yang dituliskan melalui puisi atau penulisan diari untuk membantu mengungkap kembali narasi kekerasan itu sebagai figur yang tidak merusak dan melahirkan trauma. Ini merupakan “politik memori” untuk melawan amnesia sosial yang akut dan meliyankan perempuan sebagai korban perkosaan dalam wilayah pasca konflik, seperti Aceh. Dengannya lidah lebih perkasa dari laras senjata. Darinya tulisan merupakan senjata yang digunakan untuk menundukkan kembali kekerasan-kekerasan yang pernah terjadi di masa lalu.

…
―dosa atau tembak! katanya
jelas, petir itu merobek jiwa
namun darahku lebih merah memegang
kendalinya
Dalam tendanganku yang tak sampai
dalam cakaranku yang tak mengelupas
tubuhku dirampas! Tuhan, aku bagai najis
hingga usia senja, melarut dalam rasa
dosa yang tak selesai
…

Zubaidah Djohar: Inikah Damai itu, Tuan?, 2008

Catatan ZD:“dosa atau tembak” adalah kata-kata yang digunakan oleh tentara sambil menodong senjata ketika akan memperkosa perempuan di masa konflik Aceh.

Teknik untuk mengingat kekerasan yang tidak terungkap karena trauma adalah dengan menyatukan kembali fragmen-fragmen luka, dalam ritual atau dalam karya sastra, dalam kisah-kisah sebagai pengungkap fakta kebenaran. Dari sini identitas akan dikonstruksi kembali dengan menceritakan kembali masa lalu yang traumatik tersebut. Sementara “politik memori” ini diusahakan oleh sebagian kecil kelompok perempuan, teknologi untuk melupakan merupakan alat yang sangat mudah untuk dikuasai. Kehilangan ingatan dalam amnesia sosial sebenarnya sangat berbahaya, karena ia melahirkan ketegangan-ketegangan sosial. Ketegangan sosial ini dapat melahirkan kekerasan yang hampir sama di masa lalu, namun dengan bentuk, wajah dan rupa yang berbeda. Dia juga melahirkan rasa takut, dan ketakutan ini kemudian mendistorsi masyarakat bagaimana memandang keadilan. “Kerentanan memori” dapat melahirkan kembali serial ketidakadilan, perkosaan, kejahatan, dan kerusakan-kerusakan kembali di masa yang akan datang. Bagaimana banyak Peraturan Daerah (yang diskriminatif terhadap perempuan): Dilarang Mengangkang, Dilarang Menyanyi Bagi Perempuan Dewasa, dan lain-lain, merupakan “reproduksi kekerasan” yang terjadi di masa lalu, dengan bentuk, wajah, dan rupa yang berbeda, pada masa sekarang.

…
Diam-diam engkau bergumam :
kekerasan yang mana?
perempuan siapa?
disini, syari’at islam telah bernama
berkumandang sampai ke ujungujung desa
…
Bahkan kelabu di rumahnya sendiri
nyak-nyak di pasar, memanggul kehidupan
abai dalam jamah qanun kebanggaan
Berita kekerasan terus mengemuka di surat kabar kenamaan
“ayah memperkosa anak”
“teungku melakukan pelecehan seksual kepada santri”
“perempuan penyintas konflik kian miskin di masa damai”
“perempuan dilecehkan atas nama kitab suci”
…

Zubaidah Djohar: Nanggroeku, Aceh, 2011

Referensi:
Alcock, Susan E. 2002. Archaeologies of the Greek Past: Landscape, Monuments, and Memories. Cambridge University Press.
Castelli, Elizabeth. 2004. Martyrdom and Memory: Early Christian Culture Making. Columbia University Press.
Djohar, Zubaidah. 2011. Pulang Melawan Lupa. Aceh: Lapena Press.
Nasrallah, Laura. “The Politics of Memory” in Harvard Divinity Bulletin Autumn 2005 (Vol. 33, No. 2).
Jacoby, Russell. 1975.  Social Amnesia, A critique of conformist psychology from Adler to Laing. Boston: Beacon Press.