Syarifah Sabaroedin (1949 – 11 October 2008) was an Indonesian
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
and criminologist who advocated against the discrimination of women.
Early life and education
She was born in Jakarta on 1949. She completed her bachelor's degree in
criminology
Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...
and later obtained a master's degree in philosophy from the
University of Indonesia
The University of Indonesia (UI; ) is a public university in Depok, West Java and Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia. It is one of the oldest tertiary-level educational institutions in Indonesia (known as the Dutch East Indies when UI was established) ...
and also studied feminism in
Rutgers University
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
and
St. Scholastica's College in
Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
.
Career and organization experience
Syarifah was a criminology lecturer at the University of Indonesia. During a workshop with the
Legal Aid Institute, while representing Kalyanamitra, a women's activism organization together with
Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, she coined the term "''Pelecehan Seksual''" as the Indonesian translation of
sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...
. During a Women's Congress held in Yogyakarta from December 14-17, 1998, she was elected to a key position. The event, attended by 500 women from Indonesia and 25 from Timor-Leste, coincided with the formation of the
Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia (KPI). As part of this, 15 representative sectors were created, and she was elected as one of the coordinators for the Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender sector, with Katjasungkana serving as the general secretary. During her membership, KPI wrote a bulletin about the problems faced by lesbian women in Indonesia, which was funded by NOVIB, a branch organization of OXFAM in the Netherlands, with Katjasungkana as the chief editor. Syarifah wrote an article about compulsory heterosexuality, which in Indonesia is considered as "''kodrati''" or natural, but she views it as a form of violence against women.
Syarifah also founded Kalyanamitra, women's support organization with Debra Helen Yatim, Myra Diarsi, Sita Aripurnami, and Ratna Saptari, established Kalyanamitra in 1985.
Death
Syarifah died on 1 October 2008.
Publications
* 1998: ''Hak-hak reproduksi perempuan yang terpasung'' – published by Pustaka Sinar Harapan in the Indonesia.
* 2006: ''Kebertubuhan perempuan dalam pornografi'' – published by Yayasan Kota Kita in the Indonesia.
[{{Cite book , last=Syarifah , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fAraAAAAMAAJ , title=Kebertubuhan perempuan dalam pornografi , date=2006 , publisher=Yayasan Kota Kita , isbn=978-979-98379-3-6 , language=id]
References
20th-century Indonesian LGBTQ people
1949 births
2008 deaths
Indonesian feminists