In what claims to be the only woman-run cafe in the capital of Indonesia’s most conservative province, owner Qurrata Ayuni says she and her baristas provide an alternative to rowdy, smoke-filled male haunts. The 28-year-old opened Morning Mama last year to create a space that caters to women in Banda Aceh, known as the city of 1,001 coffee shops. “I thought why not open a place that is comfortable for women?” she said.
While the province has long been known as the site of the world’s deadliest tsunami and a decades-long separatist insurgency, Aceh’s draw for visitors is often the coffee. The traditional “sanger” latte, mixed with condensed milk, is a popular staple. Aceh’s strong connection to coffee started hundreds of years ago with Dutch colonial rulers.
Now, its farmers cultivate world-renowned beans in lush highlands. Aceh still catches attention for its ultraconservative values, including by-laws that require Muslim women to wear hijabs. While women are not banned from working in the only region in Muslim-majority Indonesia to impose Islamic law, running a coffee shop is seen as a man’s job.
“It’s extremely difficult for women in Aceh to pursue education or a career, facing not only legal restrictions but also social bullying,” said Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch. Despite widespread criticism, public whipping remains a common punishment for a range of offences in the province, including gambling, alcohol consumption and relations outside m.