Between Obedience and Survival: Gender Norms, Economic Dependence, and Violence Against Women in Rural Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70904/Keywords:
gender-based violence, gender norms, economic dependence, women empowerment, phenomenologyAbstract
Gender-based violence (GBV) in Indonesia remains a critical structural problem, with one in four women aged 15–64 having experienced violence in their lifetime (SPHPN, 2024). The intersection of patriarchal norms, economic dependence, and double burden of domestic and productive work creates layered vulnerabilities that conventional intervention approaches have inadequately addressed. This study explored women's lived experiences of gender norms and violence using a mixed methods phenomenological approach, drawing on qualitative data from in-depth interviews (IDI), focus group discussions (FGD), and Oral Her Story (OHS) narratives collected from 126 informants, as well as supporting quantitative survey data from 300 respondents (100 per site), across three Indonesian regencies: Cirebon (West Java), Jember (East Java), and Lombok Timur (West Nusa Tenggara). Findings from the BERANI II Baseline Study (UN Women, 2025) revealed that patriarchal norms strongly position men as primary breadwinners, whilst simultaneously subjecting women to a double burden of productive and reproductive labour. Economic violence was the most prevalent form of GBV (32.1%), and women who were entirely financially dependent on their spouses faced significantly higher rates of lifetime violence (54.3%). Critically, economic participation alone was insufficient to protect women from violence; employed women encountered new forms of abuse, including social stigma and emotional violence. These findings suggest that sustainable GBV prevention requires simultaneous transformation of gender norms alongside economic empowerment interventions, with meaningful inclusion of men as partners of change.
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