Buana Gender: Jurnal Studi Gender dan Anak

Understanding the Hadith on Perfume: An Effort to Prevent Sexual Harassment and Protect Women

Alwi Padly Harahap — 2025-03-07

Research on hadith related to perfume often emphasizes the ethical aspects of its use and its implications for personality. However, there has been limited exploration of how these hadiths can serve as tools to prevent sexual harassment and protect women. This study aims to examine the hadith concerning women’s use of perfume from the perspective of preventing sexual harassment and safeguarding women. Employing a descriptive-qualitative method combined with thematic analysis techniques, this research analyzes qualitative data, including narrative and interpretive studies of the hadith texts to uncover their meanings. Additionally, it conducts a phenomenological analysis of social norms regarding women’s use of perfume in society. The findings reveal that the prohibition of women wearing perfume in public spaces aims to protect them from negative attention or harassment, which can stem from certain social norms. The hadith advises women to use perfume thoughtfully and by the situation to avoid potential harm. Furthermore, these teachings highlight the importance of ethics, morality, and respect for women, which can serve as a foundation for promoting their protection in social settings. The contribution of this research is to offer a new perspective on the relevance of hadith in preventing sexual harassment through the principle of caution and to reinforce the role of religion in protecting women both socially and psychologically.

The Muslim Feminist Movement of the Indonesian Women Ulema Congress (KUPI) on Women's Issues in Indonesia

Hasyim Asy'ari — 2025-03-07

KUPI Muslim feminists are born from religious leaders who are sensitive to women's issues. They examine religious texts from a gender perspective, balancing the roles between patriarchal traditions and equality education, on the basis that Islam teaches inclusive justice for all humans. This paper uses a qualitative method with a social approach through Coleman's rational choice theory as an analytical tool on the data findings. The findings in this paper show that the KUPI Muslim feminist movement is based on rational choices constructed through Islamic religious values sourced from sacred texts with a scientific and experiential lens. Rational choice based on religious values raises the concept of rational religion choice. Their movement aims to reconstruct patriarchal domination in religion, and promote gender-inclusive religion through re-reading sacred texts with various holistic and contextual approaches to develop a new epistemology in Islam in feminism. To optimize their goals, they utilize human resources through organizations affiliated with KUPI, as well as online media to spread their ideas. The KUPI Muslim feminist movement reconstructs gender-inclusive Islam through religious rationality, organizational advocacy, and the use of digital media.

Female Migrant Workers under Patriarchal Society: Case Study in Taiwan

Safina Al Shifa Chandra Gouw — 2025-04-17

Through the lens of normative feminism, this article examines the many difficulties experienced by female migrant workers within Taiwan's patriarchal framework. Taiwan's economy has mostly benefited from the labor of migrant workers, most of whom are women. Because of the country's pervasive patriarchal system, these workers frequently face complex gender-based problems. This study explores the overlapping layers of marginalization, exploitation, and discrimination faced by female migrant workers via the lens of normative feminist theory, drawing attention to the many difficulties that these women face as a result of Taiwan's patriarchal norms interacting with the job market, social structures, and cultural prejudices. Utilizing non-participatory observation and internet-based literature research, this article finds that there is a lack of research on gender-based factors that cause these challenges. Though there has been international support from labor protection-focused organizations, there are still limitations and loopholes in the existing legal protections available in Taiwan and sending countries of these workers, causing cases of risks faced by female migrant workers go undocumented at a large number. This study pushes forth the urgency for more robust instruments and government bodies that bind and regulate the treatments and protections towards these female migrant workers.