Berkley Center

Lies Marcoes (Lies Mustafsirah Marcoes-Natsir), Indonesian Muslim feminist activist, human rights worker, and medical anthropologist, focuses on the intersection of gender and Islam through research, training and policy advocacy. She has worked with a wide range of civil society organizations in Indonesia. Marcoes spent several years with The Asia Foundation, focused on Aceh and on gender issues. She was instrumental in founding the Fahmina Institute, a non-profit in Cirebon, Indonesia, that works to establish an equal society based on justice, humanity, Islamic tradition and local cultural wisdom. Fahmina was a finalist for the 2013 Opus Prize, administered by Georgetown University. Marcoes has been involved with all sectors of Indonesian society in her efforts to encourage gender equity, most recently confronting challenges from growing Islamic fundamentalism. She is writing a book on gender, poverty and law enforcement, and an article on the growing impact of fundamentalism on women’s access to family planning in Indonesia.