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‘Tidak Perlu Ditakuti’

Orang Indonesia yang Pernah Mengalami Kusta Melawan Diskriminasi

Desa Jongaya adalah salah satu pemukiman kusta terakhir yang tersisa di Indonesia. Desa yang terletak di Provinsi Sulawesi Selatan ini dihuni oleh sekitar 1.300 penduduk, menurut Al Qadri, seorang aktivis dan orang yang pernah mengalami kusta. Meskipun Organisasi Kesehatan Dunia (WHO) melaporkan penurunan bertahap dalam kasus kusta di seluruh dunia, Indonesia menyumbang kasus tahunan terbanyak ketiga, dengan sekitar 17.000 kasus dilaporkan setiap tahun. Orang Indonesia yang menderita kusta pernah dipaksa untuk hidup terpisah dari teman dan keluarga mereka di komunitas yang dikarantina, seperti Jongaya. Tetapi penduduknya saat ini telah memilih untuk pindah ke kompleks perumahan untuk menghindari diskriminasi. Namun, Qadri percaya bahwa meningkatkan pendidikan publik tentang penyakit ini dapat mengurangi stigma negatif terhadap orang yang mengalami kusta dan mendorong mereka untuk mencari perawatan medis yang memang penting. *Video termasuk deskripsi audio. *Baca bersama dengan mengklik tombol cc pada pemutar YouTube Anda.

Photo of Dija.

Filmmaker: Dija

Dija, who has a single given name and no surname, is chairperson of the Association of Indonesian Women with Disabilities (HWDI)’s branch in Simbang in the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. She is also a board member of the Section Indigenous Community, a sub-section of HWDI’s branch in South Sulawesi. Dija first became involved with HWDI over three years ago. Its mission includes advocating for the social development of women with disabilities and improving their quality of life. The organization champions equal opportunity and full participation for women with disabilities.

Dija also has been active in a participatory planning and budgeting system in Indonesia known as “Musrenbang.” During in-person and online forums, local governments engage citizens in discussions on community aspirations and priorities. Last year with HWDI South Sulawesi, Dija advocated for a Musrenbang focused on disability. She worked with two offshoot groups of HWDI to accomplish this  - Self-Help Group Batubassi Pammase and Self-Help Group Panrita. Both groups work to support Indigenous persons with disabilities in their respective communities. As a result of their advocacy efforts, the local government integrated disability into a pre-existing “Thematic Musrenbang for Women and Children” to form the “Thematic Musrenbang for Women, Children, and Disability.” Dija is a member of the Simbang District delegation at another local “Musrenbang,” representing Indigenous women with disabilities. 

At HWDI South Sulawesi, Dija also collects data on Indigenous persons with disabilities in Batubassi, a village in South Sulawesi, with Self-Help Group Batubassi Pammase. She assists with cases of sexual violence against women with disabilities in South Sulawesi’s Maros Regency with a Self-Help Group Batubassi Pammase companion. Dija is a children’s rights advocate, too. She joined a network of women’s and children’s organizations in the Stop Child Marriage Campaign Coalition in Maros Regency.

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