Indonesia protests: Why women dressed in pink are joining demonstrations with brooms

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Hundreds of women, dressed in pink, protested in Indonesia‘s capital on Wednesday, brandishing brooms as a symbol of their demands for reform against lawmakers’ perks and police brutality.

Their demonstration occurred as the nation’s president travelled to China for a military parade.

The women carried signs with slogans like “reform the police” and “your sweet promises cause diabetes.”

Protest organiser The Alliance of Indonesian Women stated the brooms symbolised a need to “sweep the state’s dirt … and the repressiveness of security forces.”

These protests, which began in Jakarta last week, have rocked the world’s third-largest democracy, escalating nationwide after a police vehicle killed a motorcycle taxi driver on Thursday night.

Rights groups report 10 deaths in the demonstrations, which have also led to looting and rioting.

Women holding up brooms and placards shout slogans during a protest against lawmakers' perks and police brutality, brandishing brooms as a symbol of their calls for reform — Women holding up brooms and placards shout slogans during a protest against lawmakers’ perks and police brutality, brandishing brooms as a symbol of their calls for reform (REUTERS)

The Alliance, a coalition of women-led civil society groups, had cancelled a planned protest on Monday due to the risk of a violent official response.

“We want to show that protests are mostly peaceful,” said 30-year-old Rizky Ananda, who was demonstrating against violence against people, and women in particular, as well as wasteful government spending.

“If the government said protests were treasonous, it should be questionable.”

President Prabowo Subianto has said the military and police would stand firm against violence, and said on Sunday that some of the unrest bore the signs of terrorism and treason.

Protest organiser The Alliance of Indonesian Women stated the brooms symbolised a need to ‘sweep the state's dirt ... and the repressiveness of security forces’ — Protest organiser The Alliance of Indonesian Women stated the brooms symbolised a need to ‘sweep the state’s dirt … and the repressiveness of security forces’ (REUTERS)

Prabowo was making a trip to China to attend a lavish military parade on Wednesday after initially cancelling due to the unrest, with his office saying that signs of normalcy returning in Indonesia were a factor in his decision to travel.

The National Commission on Human Rights was conducting an investigation into security forces’ handling of the protests, commissioner Anis Hidayah told journalists on Tuesday.

The United Nations’ rights office called on Monday for investigations into “all alleged violations of international human rights law, including with respect to use of force”.

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