Zines for feminism and against a violent government!

 Student protests from August 25 to September 1 

In August 2025, the Indonesian government released a bill that would grant members of parliament a housing allowance of 50 million rupees (over 3,000 dollars), which is ten times the Indonesian minimum wage. Protests against, this spread across the country after the 25th, whereupon police violence was used heavily. The excesses of violence were extreme. On August 28, a motorcycle taxi driver was run over by a police armored vehicle as it drove through a group of protesters. He accidentally livestreamed his own death. 

Between the end of August and September 1, the demonstrations continued, with the government using increasingly more violence. Protesters were beaten up and sprayed with water cannons and tear gas from far too close range. Thousands of protesters were arrested, and nearly a thousand were prosecuted. 

The protesters demanded the ‘17+8 demands’: 17 demands to be implemented within a week (such as no military interference within the police and no prosecution of protesters), and 8 demands to be implemented within a year (such as a total reform of the political system). 

Almost nothing has been done about any of these demands. 

Almost a year later 

Since the nationwide protests, the political situation has actually only worsened. The government has now submitted a bill that would automatically deploy the army to more governmental administrative bodies, such as for tax collection and budget regulation. 

This inclusion of the army in daily life in Indonesia is a clear threat to democracy. Consequently, many people strongly disagree with the growing militarism.  

Young Feminist Collective Jakarta 

Following a feminist training last December, students from various universities formed the Young Feminist Collective Jakarta, with the explicit goal of being able to organize rapid solidarity actions following political misdeeds and to enhance the political education of young women. They do this primarily by creating and distributing political zines and by attending feminist demonstrations. 

This collective emphasizes that the current government’s new legislative proposal is steeped in toxic masculinity and can only exist through extreme hierarchy, blind obedience, and violence. As this culture penetrates further into the administrative layers, it will silence dissenting voices. Women in particular, will be the first to be silenced in this masculine culture. 

With financial assistance from Het Actiefonds, the collective was able to hold a zine-making session with dozens of young women. The zine calls for feminist resistance against the current government. These zines were distributed to the public at three different times in May during various actions. The collective has big plans for the future and will continue to work in various ways for an antimilitarist, feminist democracy!