On Friday the 27th of April, a group of students studying International Relations came to Rifka Annisa to learn about gender-based violence as part of their Introduction to Peace Studies class. The presentation was facilitated by Mbak One (Defirentia One), and incorporated an interactive approach to learning through encouraging group discussions and input, discussing topics utilising visual props, and reflective learning through role play activities. The interactive approach helped to keep students engaged throughout the entire session, and encouraged a critical thinking approach to gender-based violence, as students were able to understand the topic more clearly and reflect upon their own personal experiences within society.
The session began by asking students to reflect upon the differences between gender and sex, and the attributes they associated as belonging to either males or females. Students wrote down on a post it note, one word that they believed summarised what it means to be male or female, the selected words were then discussed collectively as a group. It became clear throughout the discussion that whilst majority of the selected words are commonly stereotyped as belonging to a certain gender, for example, emotional linked to being a woman and logical linked to being a man, all of the selected words apart from two could technically be an attribute or trait of either gender. They only two selected words that were not applicable to both genders were chromosome XX and chromosome XY, indicating to students that the only real differences between men and women are biological, a phenomenon they had not really contemplated before. Women have vagina, men have penis. Women can breast feeding, men can not.
Following this was a role play activity which created an opportunity for students to reflect upon their position in society, and the positions of others. Each participant was given a different character to play, the characters varied in ages, sex, occupations, social positions and encompassed different attributes. A series of questions associated with situations that commonly contribute to increased vulnerability for certain members of society were then asked to the students, in which they needed to consider how applicable that situation was to the character they were playing. If the question scenario was likely to make their character feel vulnerable students raised their hands and were given a piece of string to tie around their wrists, at the end of the questions the group discussed the amount of strings each person had and reflected upon why certain people in society are more vulnerable than others. It became very clear during the group discussion that the people who are likely to be most vulnerable in society were women, young people, people with mental or physical disabilities, women who relied on their husbands financially, transgender people and those with jobs which are not accepted in society, such as sex workers.
The students appeared to enjoy the presentation, and provided important feedback throughout the activities, indicating they were critically reflecting upon the topics discussed and reflecting how this relates to their society and their daily lives.
Personal Reflection of the Experience:
The presentation on Friday which discussed the topic of gender-based violence in Indonesia was a really insightful and valuable learning opportunity for me to undertake during my internship with Rifka Annisa. Listening to the students discussion of gender issues in Indonesia, in addition to their perceptions of patriarchal society and the impact this has on women, enabled me to understand more about this significant gender issue within the Indonesian society context, and in what ways it may differ for women in Australia.
It was really powerful to observe how passionate the students were about women’s rights, and their beliefs which support women to be entitled to the same experiences and rights as men. I felt the interactive manner in which the information surrounding this topic was presented to the students by Mbak One, was a powerful learning tool for increasing the students understanding of this topic, and encouraging them to critically reflect upon men and women’s societal positions. This was evident by the student’s willingness to participate in all discussions, and to share their own personal experiences and feelings with the entire group.
I really enjoyed the role play activity, as I was able to understand how the social constructions people are impacted by influence their level of vulnerability within Indonesian society. I was also able to consider the position of the characters in Australian society, and whether there were differences or similarities in regards to their level of vulnerability during certain situations. It was also really interesting to listen to student reflections after the activity, regarding why they thought some people were more vulnerable than others, and what they would like to see happen in Indonesia society regarding the treatment of men and women. Listening to the experiences of others, and their perceptions of gender issues, is highly important for increasing our understanding of gender issues and creating more awareness within this area. I feel very privileged to have partaken in this discussion and learning experience.
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Author: Kathleen Sherrin, intern student from Charles Darwin University, Australia
