UNS – The role of women in making a decision become an interesting topic to discuss. The effort to defend the women’s voice is pursued in various aspects of life, one of them is in the governmental sector. Not a few policies related to women are established along with a question of how these policies can be passed.
On Thursday (5/3/2020), in Seminar Room, the Faculty of Social and Political Study (FISIP) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, a General Lecture on “Women and Public Policy Decision Making in Parliament”. On this occasion Dr. Nihayatul Wafiroh, MA as the Deputy Chairperson of the Commission IX the House of Representatives of The Republic of Indonesia (DPR-RI) is attending as the main speaker. This general lecture is attended by the students of FISIP UNS especially those from the State Administration Study Program.
Problems that are often faced by women in general in Indonesia are related to social stigma. Many people judge a woman from their physical strength rather than their competency. This concept cannot be completely changed. This because from within the woman does not fully believe in herself.
Dr. Nihayatul Wafiroh, MA explains that the problem can be viewed from two perspectives the internal and external perspectives. One of the internal perspectives that were explained is regarding the lack of confidence to perform in front of the public and not all women are actively trying to change the stigma of women’s role in the parliament. From within the women, they are not confident and have no try to make a real contribution, these made them considered as a compliment. Meanwhile, from the external perspective, there are gender and injustice issues that still continue to occur in society.
This, however, does not necessarily discourage women from continuing to improve. Dr. Nihayatul Wafiroh, MA is one of the samples, she continues to strive to contribute to the women, at least those around her. She recounts that during this time she always supported the female staff in her team to be able to continue their education to a higher level.
As a woman working in the political world, facing various challenges is inevitable. One of them is during the decision making process. Women’s voice that remains a minority has become homework for female legislative to be able to voice out their opinion.
“In my opinion as a female legislative, the first thing that we should remember is that we need to have an attitude to always strive more and willing to learn. Starting from this, it will be developed when we deliver our opinion or argument, we can give an opinion that supported by data. Therefore, our opinion will be accepted and is not underestimated. An opinion and decision from a woman are needed in voicing-out their idea,” said Dr. Nihayatul.
The current condition in the Indonesian parliament is better and no longer differentiating and comparing between women and men. She believes that women’s voices should always have a portion. This condition itself will not last too long. An improvement from the Deputy of Chairperson of DPR is needed to continue their improvement.
Related with this matter, there will be a generation shift who will bet sitting at governmental position, thus in this occasion, Dr. Nihayatul Wafiroh advised the students who want to be part of the people’s representative, someone needs to understand three thing: do not be tired to learn, do not bring down other, and understand the role of people’s representative who serve the community. Humas UNS/Ratri
