
Dana Throssell
By Dana Throssell (Volunteer from The Australian National University)
This Saturday (16/3/2019), I had the opportunity and privilege of joining the Mitra Wacana team, including Director Mbak Imelda and Mas Poyeng, on their visit to Gunung Rawas in the Sentolo village to run a community engagement session on citizen journalism.
This session involved 23 participants, most of which were influential mothers or daughters in the local community. The workshop was opened with remarks by Bu Sukarmi (from the Srikandi Women’s and Children Learning Centre) and Mbak Imelda (from Mitra Wacana).
Over the course of a few hours, the interactive workshop aimed to teach the women about writing and producing effective articles, particularly ones which tackle community and social issues. The day centred around group discussions and activities discussing how to source captivating content and utilise journalistic devices to produce important and interesting articles. The Mitra Wacana team then explained how to disperse these articles through the community, such as by using popular social media platforms.
This session also informed the participants about the risks and warning signs of online hoaxes – a dangerous source that is frequently used in Indonesia to perpetuate false information or lure victims into unsafe situations.
This was one of many visits that Mitra Wacana has made to the Sentolo village over the past 4 years. This program of consistent and varied workshops, discussions, and meetings aims to strengthen knowledge within the community surrounding prevalent gendered issues such as human trafficking.
Citizen journalism is a vital tool which can be used to empower communities to prevent and mitigate the threat of human trafficking within the region. Citizen journalism gives a voice to women and women’s issues which may be traditionally marginalised or silenced by larger forms of mass media.
When local women have the knowledge and means to produce their own content, grassroots media becomes a powerful instrument to amplify information and risks surrounding issues, such as cases of human trafficking. Furthermore, citizen journalism is particularly effective in the Indonesian settings due to the widespread use of social media and strong networks of women within these communities.
Saturday’s program resulted in another group of women being empowered with a new skill that will serve to strengthen and protect their community. Mitra Wacana will return to Sentolo and neighbouring sub-villages over the coming weeks for more routine meetings, workshops and social analysis sessions in preparation for an upcoming report on the local prevalence of human trafficking.
Photos taken by Mitra Wacana Community Organiser: Cornelia Natasya