Privately organized cooperative in Yogyakarta, Indonesia
The women in this privately organized cooperative are making baby booties from beautiful Indonesian batik cloth. While they work, the cooperative director Ika educates them about violence against women, gendercide, and women’s rights.
“So many of the women were happy when I led a discussion about women’s issues in the world. To start, I asked them about (domestic) violence. I think this issue is very close at hand for them. Next, I moved to a more difficult question – what did they feel as they sewed these baby booties? The answers were diverse. All of them have heard about domestic violence. They thought that various factors contribute to it – the economy, the psychology of injuring women – common sense explanations. There are stake holders who want to keep things this way.
That said, the women are very happy, to be making baby booties. They ask if the project can help them get money. I tell them it is for women. Just know that it helps them a lot.”
