When Indonesians go to the polls in April 2019, about 40 per cent of candidates competing for seats in the House of Representatives (DPR) will be women. But if the results of previous elections are anything to go by, the chances for many of these women to actually win a seat are rather slim. While female representation in political institutions has gradually improved over the years, Indonesian women still face a range of social, cultural, economic, and political challenges in their struggle to achieve gender parity.
In Talking Indonesia this week, Dr Dirk Tomsa discusses these challenges and the prospects of overcoming them with Ella Prihatini, a journalist and PhD candidate at the University of Western Australia and the author of the recently published article “Women’s Representation in Asian Parliaments: a QCA Approach”.
In 2018, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University, Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, and Dr Charlotte Setijadi from Singapore Management University.
Look out for a new Talking Indonesia podcast every fortnight. Catch up on previous episodes here, subscribe via iTunes or listen via your favourite podcasting app.
Photo by Wahyu Putro for Antara.
