Live Without Social Protection; Why Does it Hard for Transgender Women to Access Social Security
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26 September 2022 22:17 WIB
Hartoyo said that his organization has been working together with the focal points in several regions in Indonesia, namely in Greater Jakarta Area (Jabodetabek), Denpasar, Surabaya, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Bandung, and Serang, to advocate the trans women who need government services. “There are a total of 20 focal points that help,” he said. According to Hartoyo, his institution will continue to advocate for open access to the economy, social, and culture for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex groups.
The Public Relations head of BPJS Kesehatan, M. Iqbal Anas Ma’ruf, said that his institution works based on the regulation in processing the BPJS Kesehatan membership. “As long as you have KTP, you can have a BPJS membership. Because every Indonesian citizen has the same right to register themselves to BPJS Kesehatan,” he said.
Anas said that his office does not see the social status of the people who want to register a BPJS Kesehatan membership, including trans women or other marginal groups. BPJS Kesehatan, he went on, will serve anyone to get healthcare security from the state no matter what their sex is as long as they have an ID card.
The National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Reduction (TNP2K) stated that citizenship identity will be the main basis for the government to provide assistance to the poor. Head of TNP2K Policy Team, Elan Satriawan, said that trans women in the poor category still have to have an ID card to obtain assistance from the government. This is because the government social assistance for the poor is based on the ID number (NIK). “To make sure there is only a single data,” he remarked.
TNP2K, he went on, does not have the data related to the trans women who have or have yet to get social assistance from the government. According to Elan, efforts to ensure that marginalized groups, such as trans women, receive government assistance, are fully under the charge of the Social Affairs Ministry and Home Affairs Ministry through the directorate general of Population and Civil Registration.
The Home Affairs Ministry’s director general of Population and Civil Registration, Zudan Arif Fakrulloh, said that his office has been trying to help the trans women group in obtaining an ID card since two years ago. He also has issued Circular letter number 470/9363/Dukcapil regarding Data Collection and Issuance of Administrative Documents for Transgender Residents.
Since the issuance of the letter, he went on, the directorate general has issued over 600 e-KTP for trans women in Indonesia. “We’re not going to reject the trans women who come to the Dukcapil (population and civil registration) office bringing along a complete document, or we can pick them,” he said. “We’ll definitely serve them.”
The problem is that several trans women consider that the requirement to register for an electronic ID card (e-KTP) is difficult. They find it hard to meet, such as a family card requirement. Trans women do not have a family card as they are outcasted by their families. “Meanwhile, a family card is a basic requirement to register for an electronic KTP,” he remarked.
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The report on trans women and Indonesian politics was a collaboration between Koran Tempo and Jaring.id with the support from Indonesian Association for Media Development (PPMN) and The Asia-Pacific Regional Support for Elections and Political Transitions (RESPECT). This collaboration also involved the Philippines Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and Lafaek News (East Timor)
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