Fighting for Women with Disabilities

Maulani had dedicated her life to championing disability issues for almost 40 years. She has been vocal and active in pushing for the protection and rights of women with disabilities.

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Maulani Rotinsulu

Tackling the discrimination and stigmatization of persons with disabilities, especially women, is the path 57-year-old Maulani Agustiah Rotinsulu has chosen to pursue. Raised in Papua, Maulani never tires of speaking out about the various problems that persons with disabilities experience in the country.

Maulani had dedicated her life to championing disability issues for almost 40 years. The chair of the Indonesian Disabled Women\'s Association (HWDI), who has a physical disability, has been vocal and active in pushing for the protection and rights of women with disabilities.

"Disability issues are part of my life and the wider community. Perceptions about disability must be grounded. It is important for me to encourage more women to care about and give voice to the interests of women with disabilities," Maulani said in Jakarta on Wednesday (18/12/2019).

The more she ventures into and observes the real situation of people with disabilities, the more she feels that many issues remain unresolved. "What the HWDI has done is only a small part of the struggle," said Maulani, who is a founder of the HWDI.

Disability issues are part of my life and the wider community.

The HWDI is staffed with female executives and members who have different types of disabilities. Founded on 9 September 1997 in Jakarta as the Indonesian Association of Women with Disabilities (HWPCI), the association has since expanded into a network of 34 provinces and 95 regencies/municipalities.

Together with the HWDI, Maulani is currently focusing on sexual and reproductive health programs for women with disabilities. The program has a particular focus on safety/security and protection, two issues that are very important to prevent violence against women with disabilities.

So far, women with disabilities have not been provided with proper knowledge on sexual and reproductive health. For example, the way it is conveyed does not display a comprehension of various disabilities.

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The talk show was guided by the Chairperson of the Indonesian Disabled Women\'s Association (HWDI) Maulani Rotinsulu (right), who presented speakers Masniari Siregar (mother of 4 children with disabilities) and Renny Setyaningrum (organizer of the Women\'s Advocacy Center for Disabilities and Children.

The HWDI’s 2015 study found that young women with disabilities, especially those at social homes and special schools, had minimal knowledge of sexual and reproductive health.

"It turns out that presentations on sexual and reproductive health are not adjusted so they can understand. For example, people with visual disabilities normally use their hearing and tactile senses, those with hearing or speaking disabilities usually use their visual senses and those with intellectual disabilities require more effort so they can understand the issue,” said Maulani. “They have different ways of understanding things so the teaching method should not be generalized."

To ensure that women with visual impairments learn about their bodies and sexual and reproductive health, the HWDI has been using female dolls that represent the different stages of growth and depict the physical development of the female body as a child, an adolescent and an adult.

For example, the “adolescent” doll that is menstruating wear sanitary pads, while another doll represents pregnant women and how to give birth. People with visual disabilities can touch the dolls to aid their understanding.

So the government’s policies are not based on assumptions.

Such approaches are important because people with disabilities have so far been treated as a single group. The key is to take an approach that addresses the different types of disabilities.

In 2016, the HWDI studied the sexual and reproductive health policies for women with disabilities in collaboration with the Asian Disability Forum, and compiled their findings into a report, "Sexual & Reproductive Health of Persons With Disabilities", which was submitted to the government. The study was offered as a reference to encourage ministries, such as the Ministry of Health, to publish a policymaking handbook to ensure that policies were inclusive of people with disabilities.

"So the government’s policies are not based on assumptions," said Maulani, who has been the ASEAN Disability Forum (ADF) secretary-general since 2017.

Fighting stigmas

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Maulani Rotinsulu

Over her decades as a disability rights activist, Maulani acknowledged that she struggled against the stigmatization of persons with disabilities, particularly women with disabilities, both within government as well as among the public.

"I will not stop fighting for disability rights, because the existing policies still do not comply with the regulations on protecting persons with disabilities, especially the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [CRPD]," said Maulani, who continues to dream of the day that people with disabilities in Indonesia will achieve equality.

Maulani Agustiah Rotinsulu

Born: Jakarta, 13 August 1962

Husband: Jeffry Ferdinand Roebert

Children: Matthew Marcel Roebert, Hans Paulus Roebert

Education: Diploma in English, Jayakarta University, Jakarta (1985)

Awards:

- Asia-Pacific Disability Rights Champions Award, UNESCAP (2012)

- Protecting the Rights of People with Disabilities Award, Social Affairs Ministry (2017)