# Khofifah Indar Parawansa

Khofifah Indar Parawansa (Javanese: ꦏ꧀ꦲꦺꦴꦥ꦳ꦶꦥ꦳ꦃ ꦆꦤ꧀ꦢꦂ ꦥꦫꦮꦤ꧀ꦱ; born 19 May 1965) is an Indonesian politician who served as the 14th Governor of East Java, serving in 2019–2024 and since February 2025. She had previously been the 27th Minister of Social Affairs from 2014 to 2018.

## Early life

Khofifah was born on 19 May 1965 in Surabaya, East Java.

## Political career

In 1999, she served as Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives. She was the first member of parliament who gave a formal critical speech toward Soeharto regime, highlighting 1997 General Election fraud during the 1998 General Session of People's Consultative Assembly.
Afterwards, from 1999 –2001, she served as the fifth State Minister for Female Empowerment, as well as the chairwoman of the Family Planning Board in the National Unity Cabinet.
She was elected chairwoman of the Muslimat [id], an Islamic women's group affiliated to Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), for the 2000–2005 term, and re-elected three times, most recently in 2016 until 2021.
In October 2014, she became the 27th Minister of Social Affairs, but resigned from the position in January 2018 in order to run in the East Java gubernatorial election.
In August 2015, she launched the "2015 Prostitution-Free National Movement" during a working visit to Jayapura, Papua. The Tanjung Elmo red-light district located in Sentani in nearby Jayapura Regency was to be closed down. Commercial sex workers were to be sent back to their hometowns and given Rp 5 million (about US$500) from the Social Affairs Ministry in addition to another Rp 5 million given by the Jayapura provincial government, in order to find "decent jobs". In early 2016, she announced the government aimed to shut down 100 red-light districts by 2019 in a bid to eradicate prostitution. As of February 2016, 68 red-light districts had been closed down.
In response to homophobic rhetoric from some officials and religious preachers, Khofifah on 16 January 2016 told the House of Representatives that the Social Affairs Ministry does not acknowledge the categorisation or term "LGBT" (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) but only recognises "people living with HIV/AIDS and minorities". She said the ministry's task is "to restore the respective social behaviors of men and women", an effort which "needs to be maximized in order to go back to the way it was before".
Responding to the Jakarta November 2016 protests by Muslim groups and extremists against the city's Christian and ethnic Chinese governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Khofifah as well as Indonesian National Armed Forces Commander Gatot Nurmantyo, Indonesian National Police Tito Karnavian and Islamic activist Yenny Wahid marched in support of interfaith unity.

## Personal life

She was married to Indar Parawansa (also rendered as Parawangsa), also known as Daeng Beta (born on 26 July 1960 in Palu, Sulawesi). Khofifah has four children, a daughter and three sons: Fatimahsang Mannagalli Parawansa, Jalaluddin Mannagalli Parawansa, Yusuf Mannagalli Parawansa and Ali Mannagalli Parawansa.

## Honours

* Bintang Mahaputera Utama [id] - 2020
* Lencana Melati - 2024
* Lencana Darma Bakti
* Satyalancana Wira Karya - 2023
* Satyalancana Karya Bhakti Praja Nugraha – 2024
* Lencana Pembina Keselamatan dan Kesehatan Kerja (K3) - 2022
* Kartika Pamong Praja Madya - 2021