In reality, sexual violence is still often misunderstood. There are still many people who consider sexual violence only rape and acts that result in unintended pregnancy outside marriage. The issue of sexual violence also intersects with taboo issues in discussing sexuality, issues of immorality and religious morality. These problems are multi-layered and often make it difficult to enforce laws that are fair and humane.
This is where it is very important to strive for continual education at the grassroots about experiences of sexuality and preventing sexual violence. This includes exploring the roots of understanding of sexuality and sexual violence which are embedded in local religious and cultural knowledge. The basis for the exploration is primarily because we need to pay attention to intersectional aspects to eliminate the problem of sexual violence.
For this reason, Umah Ramah, with full support from the National Organization of Asians and Pacific Islanders Ending Sexual Violence (NAPIESV), is conducting integrated training to understand and eliminate sexual violence based on Islamic values and local wisdom under the name “Sudhamala School”.
WHY IS “SUDHAMALA”?
This training is called “Sudhamala School”. The name “Sudhamala” itself is inspired by the Sudhamala story which we can find in many cultural traces in the archipelago. We use this name because it conveys the spirit of ending “mala” namely torture, violence and slavery, to achieve self-liberation. Sudhamala also means that there is a spirit of importance of local perspectives in understanding sexuality and sexual violence.
You can read more about Sudhamala’s story from the following link: https://umahramah.org/en/sudhamala-a-symbolic-story-on-sexuality/
SUDHAMALA 2023
In 2023, Sudhamala was implemented in two cohorts. The first cohort consisted of 8 people (7 women and 1 man), the second batch also had 8 people (7 women and 1 man). So for a year, there were 16 participants involved with a composition of 14 women and 2 men. The number of participants in each class is limited to a maximum of 8 people, with the selection of each interested applicant being required to write an essay about sexual violence.
In each class, the learning process is carried out over 8 meetings every Saturday from June-October 2023. The discussion is related to the introduction of sex, gender and sexuality; identity and intersectionality; sexual violence and its root causes; the impacts of sexual violence; sexual violence and trauma; resolving practice; and calibrating with nature.
SUDHAMALA PRINCIPLES
Sudhamala School has two main principles, namely Islam rahmatan lil ‘alamin and local wisdom. Islam rahmatan lil ‘alamin is an Islamic principle that respects the diversities in everyone’s backgrounds, experiences, stories and beliefs. This principle originates from the spirit of monotheism where nothing is higher than Allah SWT. so that every human being is essentially equal, all are endowed with love.
Meanwhile, the local wisdom that we mean and use in implementing the Sudhamala School includes the willingness to listen. Listening is one of the wisdoms of the Indonesian archipelago to understand other people. Listening helps us to understand what other people feel with empathy. Listening also means that we understand, acknowledge and respect each person’s thoughts or practices despite the fact that they are different.
Apart from that, we also do not forget to always link our discussions about sexuality, sexual violence and trauma to the history and culture of the archipelago. For example, linking sexuality and moral standards with the sexuality reliefs at Sukuh Temple, introducing ancient Indonesian stories about sexuality (for example: Sudhamala Stories) and thoughts that support understanding and deciphering reality.
The wisdom we mean in practice is also carried out by inviting participants to realize and practice how we are connected to the Universe. How the parts of oneself, whether physical, mental or spiritual, cannot be separated from the environment. That is why the Sudhamala School, in some of its meetings, is held in the midst of nature.
These two principles guide the course of learning and discussions at Sudhamala School to support the ideals of upholding humanity and justice.
AS A SAFE SPACE
In Sudhamala School, everyone involved in activities agrees to uphold the commitment that:
- Everyone in the forum has an equal position, namely participants, resource persons, facilitators and organizers. Everyone can express their own opinion.
- Everyone can tell stories or have any opinion safely and comfortably without fear of being considered strange, ostracized, alienated, ridiculed, blamed, and so on.
- Everyone doesn’t talk about sensitive stories that come from other people outside the forum. If you want to tell it as a lesson for other people, you must not mention the name, identity, or anything that refers to the subject of the story.
- Everyone respects others’ opinions and does not interrupt others.
The above commitment creates a sense of trust within the forum so that Sudhamala School becomes a safe space for all. In the participants’ testimonies, it can be seen how they feel Sudhamala is a safe space for them to tell any story. They also feel they can have an opinion and be themselves without feeling judged or wrong.
The atmosphere created in this activity is very relaxed, light and family friendly. Implementing it every Saturday, only once a week, also helps them feel less burdened by time. This time span gives them a break and a dialogue between the courses and daily reality.
RAISING AWARENESS
The Sudhamala School strives to ensure that sexuality and sexual violence are not understood only as knowledge but as awareness. The difference between knowing and realizing is in accordance with the learning we got from “raos mardika” or the sense of freedom taught by Ki Ageng Suryamentaram, a Javanese philosopher.
According to him, a sense of freedom within oneself arises when there is no longer any conflict within oneself. In our understanding, inner conflict occurs when there is still a paradox between knowledge and experience. So, in understanding sexual violence and sexuality, this conflict arises when there is a difference between theory (knowledge) about it and the practice (experience) of oneself and society.
In this school, the principles, materials (example: intersectionality, river of life, trauma, reflection, etc.), learning methods (example: family-friendly, relaxed, etc.), place and time for learning (example: in the office, via zoom, and in the midst of nature; the times are not sequential in several days), as well as the atmosphere (mutual respect and listening to each other) within the school encourages participants to realize that sexual violence and sexuality cannot be separated from themselves, the flow of their lives, inner conflict, so that it exists within the scope of self, family and society.
The inseparability of sexuality from oneself encourages individuals to take responsibility for any sexual violence that occurs in their environment.
So, the awareness we mean here is exactly the same as “raos mardika“, where there is no longer any conflict between sexual violence and sexuality in theory and their experience of it in their daily lives. So it is not an exaggeration if we believe that Sudhamala School can raise the awareness of the participants.
FRIENDLY FOR ALL
From our observations, learning at Sudhamala School has quite a strong influence on participants, both those who have previously gained knowledge about sexuality and those who have not at all.
For those who already know about sexuality before, Sudhamala strengthens and provides an anchor for their thinking. This anchor makes theories, thoughts and movements have a basis in everyday reality. Meanwhile, for those who have not known about sexuality before, Sudhamala provides new knowledge through the experiences they have gone through related to sexuality and sexual violence.
From there, Sudhamala School has the advantage of providing knowledge and experience about sexuality, sexual violence, intersectionality, trauma, and the process of resolving in its own unique way. This school does not emphasize providing theoretical knowledge but rather encourages them to go beyond it so that awareness emerges, which is not only based on knowledge but also experience.
Sudhamala School always encourages any discussion about sexual violence and sexuality to be understood in the space of self and collective awareness. []
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PHOTO OF SUDHAMALA SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
