The Implication of the Village Act on Women Representation in Villages as a Realization of Sustainable Democracy: A Study In Semarang Regency’s Villages

The enactment of the Village Act (Law No.6/2014) conveys a new vigor to democratization on the village level. Through village democratization, the village can develop and prosper as a self-governing community to which every villager is equally able and entitled to participate and voice their opinions in the decision-making process for the sake of the village’s betterment. Yet in fact, noting that women in Indonesia still experience hindrances and deliberate obstacles that oppress them from voicing their opinions. Hence, the Village Act tries to resolve such by mandating women representation in the village decision-making body, the Village Representative Council. This article aims to explore the implication of the Village Act on women representation in villages. The analysis of which is based on preliminary research was executed in Semarang Regency’s villages. The fact we found is that since the enactment of the Village Act, the villages of Semarang Regency have undergone significant progress whereby women representation is escalating statistically and promoted vehemently throughout by various social elements. After all, we contend that the Village Act acts as a proposition for the inclusion of women in village politics through which the consequent actions can be conveyed as a collective initiative that will invigorate women villagers to contribute more in the decision-making process.