THE EDITOR – Shelter Warga (Community Shelter) is the only citizen assistance programme in Indonesia initiated by Makassar Mayor Moh. Ramdhan ‘Danny’ Pomanto through the Department of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (DP3A).
This shelter is specifically made to fulfill children’s rights and protection. And to support this goal, Makassar City also initiated various services such as the Regional Technical Implementation Unit for the Protection of Women and Children.
One of the success stories of the shelter programme comes from a resident of Pattingalloang on the outskirts of Makassar City.
Kasma (42) was greeted with the cheerful sound of children playing traditional games, a symphony of life encouragement to start her morning.
She sells doughnuts to survive. Every day, she walks down alley after alley in Pattingalloang from morning to evening to earn 75,000 to 100,000 rupiah from donuts sold.
She uses the money to fulfill her daily needs, and saves some when she has some left over. Since her husband died in early 2023, Kasma has been the sole breadwinner of her family.
Kasma’s husband often committed domestic violence. The couple lived in a three-room house with their three children, and 20 other family members with only plywood walls. When she was abused, all the residents of the house knew, including their children.
“There were times when he hit me for no apparent reason. I could only surrender,” Kasma recalled, showing a scar on the temple of her forehead as adapted from unicef.org.
“But when he hit me in front of the children, the pain was unbearable.”
Kasma was relieved to learn that the Pattingalloang Community Shelter provides protection and support for residents, especially women and children involved in disputes or subjected to other forms of violence.
The Office of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection established the shelter with the support of the Family Welfare Empowerment (PKK), Family Learning Centre (Puspaga), Children’s Forum and village government.
“At first I was afraid and embarrassed to report,” Kasma admits. “But I decided to seek help from the community shelter because I didn’t want my daughter to be silent if she experienced something similar in the future. And I don’t want my son to put his wife and children in harm one day.”
After receiving her report, the shelter advised her to collect evidence, while the shelter coordinated with related parties. Thanks to the quick movement of the shelter and the support of all parties, her husband managed to go to jail.
Pattingalloang is one of 20 villages and neighborhoods in South Sulawesi with shelters.
By 2023, staff at all shelters – mostly local residents – were trained by UNICEF to help prevent online child sexual abuse and exploitation, child marriage, and gender-based violence.
The trained officers are tasked with sharing their knowledge with at least 300 villagers through sharing sessions with parents/caregivers, teachers, children and others.
Chadijah (52) is another woman who sought support from the Maccini Sombala Shelter in Makassar City. In the midst of the physical and verbal violence perpetrated by her husband, she held on to Siri’, a philosophy of life about keeping shame to oneself, like other Bugis tribes in South Sulawesi.
“I did not dare to report it. Maybe because of Siri’, or maybe because I loved him too much. But when he hit me for his own mistake, my patience ran out,” recalls Chadijah, who sells stuffed tofu in front of her house to make a living.
Since 2016, the Community Shelter in Pattingalloang and Maccini Sombala have provided support for women like Kasma and Chadijah. Both believe that the role of the shelters and having an accessible place to report has made a big difference for victims of violence.
As Kasma settles into a new life with her three children, she aspires to make the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca one day, with her savings and a new life free from violence.
“As the condition of my family and the neighborhood improves, we feel safer because of the Community Shelter. I hope to be able to perform Hajj with peace of mind, Insha Allah,” she concluded with a hopeful smile.
