Balinese women still face gender discrimination A wide gender
gap continues to hamper various women’s empowerment programs in
Bali, a recent seminar concluded. Ni Nyoman Murtini, head of the
Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection agency, told an
audience at a seminar on “Balinese Women — Then and Now” that
gender discrimination still occurred in many aspects of
government-sponsored development programs. “Balinese women are
still far from having adequate access to healthcare services,
education and employment opportunities,” Murtini said. She went
further, saying that in the field of education, girls who had
access to the nine-year mandatory education were still limited
in number when compared to their male counterparts. “Illiteracy
rates among girls and women remain high, with inadequate
educational facilities for these groups in society,” she said.
Gender issues had to be included in every development program,
she added. “Up to the present, the Balinese provincial and
regional administrations have failed t