Women and Inheritance Rights in Manggarai, Eastern Indonesia: A Fight for Gender Equality

This paper explores the custom of inheritance in Manggarai, Eastern Indonesia. Women in this community are vulnerable to unfair treatments due to the lack of support for women’s rights. This phenomenon is aggravated by men’s sense of entitlement and materialism. This studiy aims at analizing how inheritance is practiced today and whether there are changes in people’s perception on women’s inheritance rights and if so, what factors are responsible for such changes. It uses both quantitative and qualitative approach. This study has discovered that gender inequality is still inevitable in the inheritance custom in Manggarai due to a strong patriarchal ideology. This paper serves as a reminder that gender awareness is still uncommon in many communities in Asia including in Indonesia; hence, there is a need for greater spread of awareness about gender equality. Improvements in education, career opportunities, and economic status for women can potentially be the catalyst of change in perception of people in a patriarchal community.