Introduction

Indigenous women have a crucial role to play in the development of Indonesia. In addition to safeguarding the archipelago’s cultural values and traditional knowledge, they play a significant role in economic resilience, social cohesion, and natural environmental preservation. However, indigenous women frequently struggle with exclusion and discrimination due to a strong patriarchal culture. This situation is exacerbated by the widespread commodification of land for large-scale private and public projects, such as palm oil plantations, industrial plantation forests, or mining, from period to period. The prevailing economic paradigm frequently harms the environment through development that devastates the ecosystem and also impedes the ability of indigenous women to secure their rights, including political rights in the form of involving women in managing natural resources such as in the consultation and decision-making process. In addition to that, the situation is worsened by the absence of laws ensuring the acknowledgment and protection of indigenous women’s rights, such as the Indigenous People Bill’s long-delayed ratification. Therefore, the aspirations of indigenous women are never accommodated.

The Neglect of Indigenous Women’s Voices in Development Projects

Research conducted by the Indigenous Women’s Association of the Archipelago (Perempuan Aman) with 1,116 indigenous women as participants and involving 31 indigenous communities in 44 villages in 2020, show that 67.4% of indigenous women have never been involved in decision-making processes regarding land and natural resources management. This is reinforced by Perempuan AMAN documentation based on Indigenous women’s experiences throughout a five-year period from 2015 to 2020.  Ninety percent of the women reported never having exercised their right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) regarding the transfer of functions that occurred in their indigenous area. For instance, during the development of a palm oil concession in Indonesia, indigenous women of the Mekar Jaya Village in East Kalimantan Province (women in a community affected by a palm oil concession) stated that they had not heard of FPIC as it was only the men who were engaged in the consultation processes.

Another illustration is how gender norms, male decision-making power, and stigma against women frequently contribute to the vulnerabilities experienced by Mentawai indigenous women in West Sumatera Province. In Mentawai culture, women are rarely involved in decision-making regarding indigenous land, whether its management or disposal. Similar findings apply to the management of indigenous forests by indigenous women in South Sumatera and Riau Province, showing that the majority of the women in the region were either non-participating or not heavily involved. Paradoxically, research shows that indigenous women contribute more than men to the preservation of natural resources, whether through educating generations regarding traditional knowledge or maintaining the continuity of life and sources of livelihood for families and communities through natural resource management.

The Multi-layered Impact of Natural Resource Conflicts on Indigenous Women

This state of affairs puts an already vulnerable population at risk of increased marginalization and maintains gender inequality. The exclusion of indigenous women from the decision-making process pertaining to their indigenous territories leaves them potential victims of exploitation by extractive industries in the context of utilizing land and natural resources. This includes being evicted from their living spaces and sources of livelihood, having the inability to reproduce their knowledge, and ending up as informal daily labourers on their land, which causes trauma due to multiple acts of violence and leads them to poverty. This is also contrary to the SDGs’ goal 5 on Gender Equality.

For instance, in Benawan Dayak custom, long-term repercussions of male asset dominance include women losing more and more land management areas, having limited access to decision-making, and being more susceptible to the risk of agrarian and natural resource conflicts.  Apart from the fact that they live in the Indigenous lands which disproportionately are the subject of conflict, especially if they contain desired natural resources. Indigenous women are still given the role of doing household work compared to those who take decision positions. Therefore, indigenous women are still a group that is more vulnerable to the risk of conflict. The vulnerability of women to become victims of conflict is also highlighted by the findings of the National Commission on Violence Against Women which show that during natural resource conflicts, indigenous women, who carry out domestic roles, are potentially exposed to chemicals, air pollution and soil destruction, making them susceptible to diseases. Furthermore, they are at risk of  losing knowledge about land or natural resource management, poverty, and other forms of gender-based violence.

Overlapping Regulations Hinder Indigenous Women’s Protection

Indonesia has co-signed UNDRIP, according to which indigenous peoples, including women, must be involved in decision-making concerning issues that would affect them. It has also ratified CEDAW through Law No. 7 of 1984, which applies appropriate standards to eliminate discrimination against women, such as ensuring women have equal rights to participate in decision-making processes. However, this is considered insufficient to address the various problems of indigenous peoples, especially women, in ensuring their rights to participate in development processes including through decision-making.

Apart from the absence of specific regulations that protect indigenous women, which makes them still vulnerable to various threats, violence, and criminalization, the overlapping regulations at the national level in various sectors actually create more spaces for the violation of the rights of indigenous women. Article 67 paragraph (1) of the Forestry Law, tends to limit the rights of indigenous women to utilise natural resources in their indigenous territories. As happened to indigenous women in East Barito, Central Kalimantal Province, who are susceptible to being criminalized, as they are prohibited from burning land for farming.

This is contrary to the national legal framework, such as Article 1 (3), Article 18B (2), Article 28D (1), Article 28I (3), and Article 33 (3) of the 1945 Constitution which provide for the rights to utilise the results of natural wealth in indigenous areas and the recognition of indigenous communities. Similarly, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Regulation No. 26 of 2018, states that it is necessary to involve women in the process of analysing environmental impacts and environmental permits in development projects. In addition, Article 9 of Law No. 39 of 1999 on Human Rights in Indonesia mandates that everyone has the right to: “defend life and improve their standard of living.” Ironically, The Job Creation Law and the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 2 of 2022 on Job Creation has the potential to perpetuate violations against indigenous women who defend their lives. For instance, there is a risk of criminalizing indigenous women and environmental defenders under Article 162 for those who reject extractive industries’ activities.

The priority of protecting indigenous peoples including women, frequently conflicts with development priorities, so this lack of synchronization in regulations will undoubtedly further legitimize the seizure of customary territories. Specifically, investors or corporations will use the law as a justification to obtain permission to use the land or territory of indigenous peoples for exploitation and extraction without consent, which further diminishes indigenous women’s voices and often results in the loss of indigenous women’s access to land or natural resources, whereas in fact, indigenous women’s access to and control over pertinent areas is the main prerequisite for ensuring that indigenous women can still carry out their functions and roles, and retain their self-identity, and even their political identity.

The Indigenous People Bill in Limbo is a Step Backwards for Indigenous Women

There is a need for legal regulations at the national level that can contribute to the fulfillment of the rights of indigenous peoples and specifically regulate the collective rights of Indigenous women, as provided in Article 18B paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution. The Indigenous Peoples (MHA) Bill is intended to serve as a legislative framework that will guarantee the acknowledgment and protection of all indigenous people’s rights, including women, as mandated in Articles 21, 22, 24, 31 and 33 of the UNDRIP, which emphasize in greater detail the rights of indigenous peoples, especially women, in the fields of education, employment and social security and in Article 2 of the UDHR, which prohibits any kind of distinction in human rights fulfillment.

However, after a long process of more than a decade, the MHA Bill remains simply a bill in Parliament. By the end of 2022, the MHA Bill had again failed to be adopted into law, as in previous years. Moreover, the bill that is currently being discussed still contains several shortcomings, including the absence of an article relating to the existence of indigenous women and the importance of gender equality for indigenous women. This bill needs to be improved, by including measures such as clarifying authority in the management of natural resources and providing more guarantees for indigenous women to participate in the decision-making process, both as individuals and collectively. It is only in this way that the MHA bill can be essential in upholding indigenous women’s rights.