Savy Amira Women’s Crisis Center

Sadly, today we often hear of incidents involving domestic and gender-based abuse. News of domestic abuse has become somewhat normalized when it comes to media and popular culture, along with other criminal and anti-social activities. In spite of frequent mention in the news, on TV shows and movies, only a tiny percentage of these cases are brought into the public eye. Abuse of this nature often remains in the shadows, not spoken about in the public space by victims, nor by those who inflict it. In light of this grim reality, a certain few have made it their mission to shine a light in this dark corner by establishing an NPO to provide an anonymous and discreet therapy and intervention service for victims of abuse. This is the story of the Savy Amira Women’s Crisis Center. Savy Amira means “ally of women” in Bahasa Indonesian and is the name given to this non-profit organization founded by several female activists from Surabaya on November 25th, 1997. From their initial aim of helping individual cases of gender-based abuse, Savy Amira has grown to become a fairly large organization handling an increasing number of cases of gender-based abuse, and in particular domestic abuse against women.

The origin of how this foundation came to be can be traced back to July 1997, when several of Savy Amira’s founding members gathered in Bandung, West Java to take part in a Feminist Counselling Workshop hosted by a welfare organization called SPeAK. The workshop was led by none other than the late Raquel “Rock” Edralin Tiglao, founder of The Philippine Women’s Crisis Center. As a prominent women’s rights activist, her outstanding achievements, allied with her impactful delivery of the material in the workshop sessions, lit a fire in these three young women from Surabaya. Following this inspiring workshop, they were driven to start an initiative to hold small, open consultations with anyone who had concerns over domestic abuse towards women. These early meetings were named “The Reboan Meetings” and were held every Wednesday. Wednesday is Hari Rabu in Indonesian, hence the name. Held over the course of six months at a borrowed office in Surabaya, they eventually led to the founding of Savy Amira as an NPO that specifically tends to female victims of domestic abuse.

Over the years, Savy Amira has operated by generating its own resources as well as modest donations from the general public, which has meant rather slow development in terms of administration and active members/personnel. Savy Amira’s initial operations started with a 24/7 hotline for victims of domestic abuse, staffed by 5 part-time workers who worked in rotation so that someone was available to field calls any time, day or night. Savy Amira’s first office was a repurposed bedroom in a staff member’s home. By 1999, an experienced women’s rights activist with an NPO and NGO background had joined Savy Amira, which led to increased productivity and improvements in internal organization. By 2001, Savy Amira had attracted the attention of several philanthropic organizations from around Surabaya, which led to more personnel and resources. The involvement of organizations such as the Rotary Club enabled Savy Amira to eventually lease a proper house which could be used as their secretariat. The house also served as a temporary safe house for women seeking shelter from abuse.

 

 

By 2002, Savy Amira had forged links with numerous partners, many of which were organizations working to support similar causes across different parts of East Java. Eventually, a network of women’s crisis centers emerged with Savy Amira being one of its core members, providing services and shelter to women in East Java and beyond. The development of this network also served to balance out the workload across these organizations, enabling them to provide a more effective and broader range of services. By 2005, Savy Amira had become a frequently referenced organization for women seeking psychological counseling and/or legal assistance. In order to build trust and understanding, between 2002-2005 Savy Amira provided workshops, training, and policy advocacy assistance in several locations throughout East Java and Indonesia.

With progress came challenges. Reforms to both the political and economic realms in Indonesia, together with the global climate during the early 2000s, resulted in a dramatic increase in cases of domestic abuse. The need for cooperation between women’s crisis centers in East Java and Indonesia has become clearly apparent. Savy Amira has internal procedures that are followed to ensure clear reasoning behind every move the organization makes, all towards the greater goal of providing the best support and service for women in peril. Fostering mutual trust and working together are the axioms for every step Savy Amira has taken since its founding.

 

 

Savy Amira holds that all forms of inequality and abuse towards women are unjust acts of violence against humanity. In a country where social values favor men, where women can be treated as second-class beings and where, for some, violence is an ever-present aspect of domestic life, the notion that “…it’s no surprise that she has to go through it, she’s a woman after all” is a commonly held belief. Savy Amira hopes to eradicate this belief by substituting it with a modern mindset, slowly but surely creating a better world for all.

 

Interview

Interviewees
Anik Mustika Rahayu – Secretary, Savy Amira Women’s Crisis Center

Q: How long have you been involved with Savy Amira?

Anik: I have been with Savy Amira since June 2019. Someone had just left the organization and I was tasked with replacing them and overseeing the database. At that time, Savy was holding an event at my campus and that’s when I found out that they were hiring. A few years later I am now also the Secretary.

Q: What are your daily tasks?

Anik: As Secretary, my daily responsibilities include checking email, WhatsApp and SMS, as well as responding to people who have reached out to us. We also have journalists and students contacting us for interviews and with requests for statistics. At the end of each month I create a report with our total cases and consultations, and I also classify the data into different types of cases. I also schedule a monthly institutional meeting and also meetings for our consultants, in order to discuss the cases they have been handling during the month.

 

 

Q: Is Savy Amira open to recruiting more volunteers?

Anik: Yes, Savy Amira is open for anyone who wants to volunteer but there are a few qualifications that have to be met. We usually have several interns but we currently don’t have any. We are always looking to add more members.

Q: What has been the most difficult thing you have had to deal with during your tenure at Savy Amira?

Anik: As a crisis center for women, the greatest challenge is always going to be responding to our clients and their cases. Some cases are really hard to deal with, especially when someone is in a position where they are unable to sever the relationship with their abuser. We usually also have projects going on such as training sessions and competitions, but when these projects eventually come to an end, we sometimes struggle to come up with new projects that will serve to energize our members.

 

The Front Desk is where staff meet visitors and clients.
The Consultation Room is used for recovery therapy and legal consultation

 

Q: How does the local community embrace Savy Amira as a women’s crisis center?

Anik: Since its founding, Savy Amira has moved its base of operations from one area to another, and so far, we are yet to receive any negativity from the communities we serve. Once we move into a neighborhood, we become known by the local community and people begin to reach out and eventually some bring their cases to us.

Q: What do you find most rewarding about your work at Savy Amira?

Anik: Helping these women get the justice they deserve, I feel like I am engaged in meaningful work, which means I am living a meaningful life. In terms of personal development, I have learned a lot about gender and I have improved my soft skills, and I’ve even made connections with people from different disciplines, such as activists who fight for reproduction-related issues and the environment.

 

 

Q: What role do you think Savy Amira plays in Surabaya?

Anik: As a crisis center for women, our main role and goal is to eradicate every form of abuse against women. One of the things that differentiate us from other institutions is that we make a point of avoiding anything that can be framed as “victim blaming”. We believe that our clients are aware of their situation and we are simply trying to help by providing access to recovery therapy and legal consultation.

Q: How do you think Savy Amira can play a greater role in the local community in the future?

Anik: By maintaining our current service of direct recovery therapy, which can’t be found in any other institutions which usually only offer legal consultation. We’re also focusing on advocacy regarding feminism, and we were able to lobby the provincial government to create a shelter for female domestic abuse victims, which I am happy to say they did. The shelter is called PPA (Protection of Women and Children).

Q: As a crisis center for women, is Savy Amira also open to helping male victims of violence?

Anik: We have worked on several cases in which the victims were men. One was in 2019, where a queer man was being publicly discriminated for his sexual orientation, and two cases in 2022 who were victims of abuse by a wife and girlfriend respectively. We strive to be open to helping everyone, but in actuality it depends on our therapists and whether they are able to work with male victims. We usually try to refer these cases to other suitable institutions that have more expertise in those areas.

Q: As we’ve seen on your social media feed, Savy Amira also has concerns for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. Are you able to respond to these cases?

Anik: We have been contacted regarding two cases of discrimination against members of the LGBTQ+ community. Unfortunately as a women’s crisis center, we do not have the capacity or reach required to assist in these cases. We usually refer these cases to GAYa Nusantara, a local LGBTQ+ NPO, who are better placed to offer support. As much as we care about discrimination against women, we also care deeply about discrimination in any form and of course that includes the LGBTQ+ community, Which is why we advocate for their rights on our social media.

Reflections

Since the economic crisis of 1998 and the resulting political restructuring of the country, cases of domestic abuse in Indonesia have grown exponentially. Since its founding in 1997 the Savy Amira Women’s Crisis Center has endured some tough times and continues to provide the best possible treatment to female victims of abuse by providing legal consultation, shelter and counseling. Savy Amira has provided guidance and counseling to hundreds of female victims of domestic abuse, taking on 133 new cases in the last year alone. The organization is constantly on the lookout for opportunities to spread awareness about the importance of gender equality as well as the empowerment of women in the modern age, organizing events such as seminars and workshops that are open to the general public. Savy Amira is open to recruiting new members, as long as they have a clear motive for joining the organization as well as the proper qualifications to fill a position within the organization.

As members of YGRP Research Group 4 from Indonesia, it is our sincere hope that Savy Amira can continue to provide these crucial services into the future with the support of a new generation of young Indonesians, so that together we can eradicate all traces of gender inequality in our society. This will be to the benefit of all Indonesians, young or old, everywhere.

References

Savy Amira Women’s Crisis Centre | Sahabat bagi Perempuan dan Anak Perempuan. (n.d.). Savy Amira Women’s Crisis Centre. Retrieved August 6, 2022, from http://www.savyamirawcc.com/

Researchers

Hello there! My name is Gerald Natanael Suteja, and I am a student at the University of Surabaya (UBAYA) in Indonesia. I was born and raised in Surabaya, but I have moved around quite a bit, even spending a few years in Brisbane, Australia. Currently, I’m back home in Indonesia, studying for a bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology. My hobbies include reading, watching anime, and occasionally cosplaying with friends. It’s always good to see what the world is like, so traveling has also become a hobby of mine. The best place I’ve been to has to be Japan, and I am very hopeful that I can one day return to Japan and encounter its rich culture and history!

Hello everyone! My name is Camila, and I am a psychology student at the University of Surabaya. I also work remotely as a virtual assistant. I was born in 2002 in Madiun, Indonesia and I was raised there until I moved to Surabaya for college. My hobbies are watching shows and playing video games – if I have time between college and work. One of my dreams is to study or live abroad. I’m very eager to learn more about other countries and their cultures, which is why I joined this program.