Gerwani

Gerwani (Indonesian: Gerakan Wanita Indonesia, "Indonesian Women's Movement") was a women's organization founded as Gerwis (Gerakan Wanita Istri Sedar, "Conscious Wives Movement") in Semarang, Central Java, on 4 June 1950. In 1954, Gerwis as an activist-based movement changed its name to Gerwani to signify its move towards a mass organization to appeal to communist supporters. Beginning with only 500 members in 1950, Gerwani claimed to have 1.5 million members in 1963. As one of the largest women's organizations in the 1950s, its broad membership was also a product of its close affiliation with the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) – reflected in Gerwani's concerns particularly with helping poor women workers, as well as their alliances with various labor unions. Nonetheless, Gerwani was an independent organization with both a feminist, and PKI-led wing. By 1965, Gerwani claimed to have 3 million members. Under Sukarno's Guided Democracy beginning in 1958, Gerwani's advocacy for gender equality, equal labor rights, and women's issues began to shift towards one more adherent with PKI and Sukarno's interests. Gerwani's priority by the 1960s was no longer feminism, but anti-imperialism and the "national unity of women to liquidate the remains of colonialism and feudalism." Founding members such as S. K. Trimurti, eventually left Gerwani after becoming disillusioned with the trajectory of Gerwani's political involvement. Gerwani's affiliation with the PKI eventually led to their demise after the failed coup of the Thirtieth of September Movement and the subsequent transition to the New Order; Gerwani was among the groups suppressed in the Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66. The arrest and imprisonment of Gerwani members was justified by the accusation of the involvement of Gerwani in the killings of the six army generals during Thirtieth of September attempted coup. The Lubang Buaya allegation, claimed that Gerwani had performed sadistic, sexual crimes...