Human rights are attached to someone since he or she was born as fundamental and absolute rights that belong to humans no matter the differences of nation, ethnicity, religion, race, and class, they have the right to life and to express opinions. Human rights guarantee human to have protection from violence, freedom of thought and expression, and so on. One of the human rights that is underestimated is the right of women. In this developing era, women are often the targets of victims of violence, when it happened, many women kept silent and are afraid to speak out to their families or the authorities. From this issue, Multiplication of Stube HEMAT in Sumba initiated a program for women of the Kawara Panamung weaving group to discuss their understanding of human rights as women.

While working on the tying process, Elisabeth Uru Ndaya as the Multiplicator, invited them to share the topics learned in the next six months, such as women's rights, leadership, and women's participation in all aspects of household and social life (Wednesday, 10/08/2022). Besides the group members of the Kawara Panamung,  their husbands and the students of Wira Wacana University who did a field study in Tanatuku also joined the discussion. In this opportunity, Elisabeth opened the session by asking about what problems they face in their married life from their own experiences and others. Some said that discrimination against women still occurs in their surroundings, such as  domestic violence cases.

Deby Hada Inda, a teacher in early childhood, said that cases of harassment also occurred besides the domestic violence cases. if the cases were not revealed to public, it will be considered nothing happened. Anjas, a student, said that most of the violence against women was not revealed, because the women prefer to remain silent due to a lack of strength or courage to fight for, so they are often victimized. In the discussion, the participants were also found that in addition to harassment in East Sumba, forced marriages also occurred because both parties have disagreement to get ‘belis’ or dowry for a woman. Besides culture, dowry is considered as a solution for the women's family to get a benefit.

In the last session, Elisabeth responded that many women claimed they were powerless when their rights were violated because they had weaker power than men. The low education of women is the result of economic and patriarchal factors. The empowerment program is expected to help women in East Sumba, especially in Tanatuku village, to be independent and get their rights. Women are expected to change their paradigm and mindset as weak women, but women who are able to fight for their rights as human beings having the same rights and no the objects of violence. ***