Industrialization has been built on the backs of young rural women who have come to the cities for work after being forced out of agriculture, as village communities lose their traditional lands to rapacious developers. Women are the majority of the work force in the textile, garment, footwear, and pharmaceutical industries. Many are employed as non-permanent daily workers. They are employed for their stamina and given very little training. Wage discrimination is endemic.
Employers go to great lengths to discourage women from organizing.
Not surprisingly, the fight against sexual harassment and rape is at the heart of many workplace struggles led by defiant women workers. The Indonesian state is obsessed with the image of the happy family and the family planning campaign promotes the idea that women should have no more than two children. Coercive methods are used to impose particular contraceptive devices on women. Family planning officials visit villages and workplaces escorted by the army. Some factories require women to use an IUD if they want to keep their job.