The Relevance of Gender Mainstreaming in Indonesia to Women's Rights in Islamic Law

Abstract

Gender mainstreaming is a government effort to uphold women's rights as part of human rights. Protection of human rights is a manifestation of Pancasila- Indonesia’s ideology and the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. Gender mainstreaming has been enforced through Presidential Instruction Number 9 of 2000 concerning implementing Gender Mainstreaming (PUG). This qualitative descriptive research describes the development of gender mainstreaming, the justice system, and gender equality within the Islamic perspective. Protecting human rights is the main goal of Islamic law, which also includes protecting women's rights. Islamic ideas and relevant events that happened in the past were comprehensively examined. This research also discusses the pre-Islamic history, in which women were demeaned. The findings of this research show that women's rights have been neglected, and even misleading Islamic arguments were often used to prevent women from gaining their rights. It is expected that this research raise awareness regarding this issue to stop violence against women. This research also affirms that gender mainstreaming and development are the keys to gender equality and justice, and they should be adapted in the planning, budgeting, implementation, and monitoring stages of program and policy development.