Indonesian women protest with brooms, demand police reforms

Women holding up brooms and placards attend a protest outside the parliament complex in Jakarta on Sept. 3, 2025. Photo: Reuters

Hundreds of Indonesian women, dressed in symbolic pink and black, and carrying brooms, rallied in Jakarta on Wednesday to demand sweeping reforms in the country’s security forces after a violent crackdown on nationwide protests, reports Arab News.

At least 10 people have been killed, over a thousand injured, more than 3,300 arrested, and 20 remain missing, rights groups say, after a wave of demonstrations that started in Jakarta last week.

Initially sparked by controversial perks and housing allowances for lawmakers, the protests turned violent and spread across the country after an armed police vehicle ran over and killed a 21-year-old delivery driver at a protest site.

As military and security forces remained deployed on the streets, women protesters gathered at the parliament complex on Wednesday morning, shouting “Reform the police” and “Stop state violence,” with some hoisting traditional brooms found in every Indonesian household.

“Women are always part of social and democratic movements. We believe that the broom symbolizes a tool that can sweep away greed and evil in this country,” Nabila Tauhida, spokesperson for the Alliance of Indonesian Women, which organized the demonstration, told Arab News.

“We are symbolically using the broom to sweep away the state’s repression … The government has responded to civil society members who voiced their criticism and demands, how we have now become the victims of state repression and violence. Many civilians were arrested, and some were even killed while protesting.”

The women protesters wore black — the color of mourning — and pink, in honor of Ana, a middle-aged woman in a bright pink hijab who became a protest icon last week after stepping ahead of student demonstrators to confront the police alone.

As protests escalated across the country, with incidents of burning and looting of state property and homes of several politicians, President Prabowo Subianto has deployed more military and police to the streets, who set up checkpoints. Troops have been patrolling the capital and other major cities such as Surabaya, Bandung, Yogyakarta and Makassar.

The militarization of public space and fears of a new violent crackdown have already forced Indonesian students and civil society groups to call off some of the protests planned for earlier this week.

Holding banners reading “Protesting is a right,” the women who gathered in front of parliament called on the president to protect their basic freedoms.

“The Alliance of Indonesian Women is calling on President Prabowo Subianto to stop all forms of state violence, including by withdrawing the military and police,” representatives of the alliance said, as they read their demands aloud together.

“We demand the full guarantee of our constitutional rights as citizens to gather, unite and protest in public without intimidation or violence.”