“I think we have to push for it, especially school regulations in Indonesia. So that there is no coercion in the private domain. Women can decide what they want or don’t want to wear,” said Elaine.
During her research, she found that even non-Muslim girls were forced to wear hijab at school and on a daily basis. In her view, this has to stop. She has even sent her report to the Law and Human Rights Ministry in Jakarta. However, she regretted that the officials said they could do nothing to interfere with the special autonomy in Aceh because that it is a bylaw enacted by the local government. Even though the report she wrote with Acehnese activists is widely discussed, the Aceh government has paid no attention to the complaint at all.
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Elaine and Human Rights Watch then published a report entitled “Upholding Morality: Violations in the Implementation of Sharia in Aceh, Indonesia (2010).” Even though after months the report had no impact or changed the dress codes in Aceh, Elaine felt that at least she had recorded the experiences of a number of women who were denied their rights. According to her, what happened in Aceh also happened in France. But by contrast, women in France are prohibited from donning hijab as part of their religious identity.
Elaine currently serves as director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division, based in Sydney, overseeing works in more than 20 countries. Together with her colleagues, she continues to monitor and conduct investigations in various areas and publish her findings in various international media. (bp)