Mama-Mama Marginalized in Their Own Land: The Story of Papuan Women
By: SKP JAYAPURA
Posted: Jun 24 08
Witnessed: 611 times
Indonesia
Women's rights
economic rights, indonesia, papua, women
“We are staying put for now. We are not going anywhere. We want a special market, one especially for us Papuan traders.”
-Y Numbery Penjual Ikan Asar, Smoked Fish Seller
Since 1971, Papuan women traders had been selling vegetables, fruit, fish, and spices in Papua in the a traditional market at the center of Jayapura, Indonesia. In a recent effort to clean up the town center, the city government has repeatedly evicted market traders, and ordered them to move to a new market on the outskirts of the city.
The indigenous women traders at this new market outside the city are unable to make a profit because the best stalls and kiosks are reserved for non-Papuan migrants. Thus, the Papua women are forced to sell their goods on the side of road of the new market or in an open dirt area. For this reason, many have refused to move from their traditional market place in the center of the town.
As Mince Kayame Penjual Bumbu Dapur, a spices seller explains, “We could move to the new market, but we live in town. Where would we live out there? We buy goods out there to sell in town. We cannot buy and sell in the same place. Who would buy them? How would we make profit and find money to send our children to school?”
The new market undermines the spirit of the Special Autonomy reforms promised by the Indonesian government in 2001.
“It is the obligation of the government to protect them. This includes providing them with market places as we have proposed over and over again. Don’t make them sit on the roadside to sell their goods…. While other women traders are given proper market facilities”
-Mgr. Leo Laba Ladjar, ofm Bishop of Jayapura
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