Women's Empowerment in Village Governance Transformation in Indonesia : Between Hope and Criticsm

Abstract

Since the lauch of Law No. 6/2014 regarding villages, scholarly concerns on village studies are growing. However, studies focusing on gender equality in Village Law implementation are still few. This article discusses the responses of the village government to gender problems in their respective areas. Based on field research in two villages in Java, namely Panggungharjo and Lerep, this article recognizes that there is greater attention on grnder issues since the implementation of the law. However, village heads still dominate village policymaking. Further, although gaining some supports, gender issues are still placed as the secondary among the village development priorities.