November 3, 2025
JAKARTA – Policies introduced during the first year of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration pay little regard to the protection of women or gender equality, observers have said, which raises concerns about the government’s commitment to upholding women’s rights.
Despite numerous programs launched in the past year, few measures have paid much attention to the equality and representation of women in policymaking and leadership positions, according to research institute Laboratorium Indonesia 2045 (LAB45).
Major programs introduced by the President’s administration, such as his flagship’s free nutritious meal program, were not constructed using a gender perspective and did not reflect support for women, said LAB45 analyst Ratu Dyah Ayu Gendiswardani.
“This is evident in the free meals program’s governing body structure, which lacks women’s participation,” Ratu said on Wednesday.
The free meals program, which has been facing growing public pressure following thousands of food poisoning cases among students receiving the meals, is managed by the National Nutrition Agency (BGN). The body only has a woman in its leadership positions, namely Nanik Sudaryati Deyang, who was appointed during a cabinet reshuffle in mid-September.
Prabowo and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s Asta Cita (eight missions) list gender equality and women’s protection as priorities under one of its 17 priority programs. However, the promises have yet to materialize, Ratu said.
“The Asta Cita outlines ambitious targets to reduce violence against women, as well as child marriage. But how can these goals be achieved without sufficient budget support and adequate facilities for the institutions responsible for these issues?” she continued.\
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Under the President’s budget austerity measures, the 2025 state budget earmarked for the Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry was reduced to Rp 153 billion (US$9.2 million), from Rp 300 billion in 2024.
The Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK), an independent state institution tasked with protecting and accompanying victims and witnesses of various crimes including gender-related ones, also saw a major cut to its budget: from Rp 229 billion in 2024 to Rp 85 billion for this year.
The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), which faced a similar cut, said the budget reduction affected services for women in regions and made it harder for the body to implement protection programs, reach out to violence survivors and provide empowerment support.
“Budgetary politics in Indonesia remains gender neutral, and it risks becoming biased as it deepens inequality in women’s access to basic public services,” Komnas Perempuan commissioner Yuni Asriyanto said on Thursday.
No guarantee
The situation looks no better regulation-wise.
Of 100 laws, government regulations (PP) and presidential regulations issued since October last year when Prabowo took office, only four have touched on women’s issues, according to Komnas Perempuan. Among them were two PP on protection and recovery and sexual violence survivors, as well as victims’ compensation funds.
The lack of pro-women regulations have sent a “worrying signal”, according to Yuni, who argued the government’s commitment to upholding women’s rights should not just stop at broad documents like Asta Cita and must be “translated into concrete policies and regulations”.
Komnas Perempuan also noted the government has yet to guarantee women’s rights to safety and freedom of expression, as they continue to become victims of gender-based violence, criminalization and unlawful arrest.
The commission highlighted the nationwide protests in August, during which three women were detained allegedly without due process.
The Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry acknowledged that violence and gender inequality remain persistent challenges, said Minister Arifatul Choiri Fauzi.
Its real-time reporting system, called SIMFONI PPA, recorded 22,400 females becoming victims of violence since the beginning of the year, nearly half of whom were involved in sexual violence cases.
The ministry has strengthened efforts to curb violence against women by expanding its regional service units, providing legal assistance for violence survivors, improving the SAPA 129 call center service and introducing its village safe-space initiative, Indonesia’s Shared Space (RBI).
Read also: Gender-based violence remains neglected issue in Indonesia, UN says
She admitted the ministry’s policies this year had mostly been reactive, only responding to the surge in sexual violence cases.
“For next year, we want to solve the problem at its root. Otherwise, it will never end,” she said in a recorded press briefing on Monday, pledging stronger preventive measures.
“The ministry faces complex cross-sectoral challenges in women and child protection issues,” Artifatul continued, “but we remain optimistic that there is great potential to strengthen our efforts.”