Inul and pornography bill

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 06/07/2006 2:34 PM  |  Opinion

Referring to Duncan Graham's article, Getting to the bottom of the pornography bill in The Jakarta Post on June 3, claiming that Inul Daritista is responsible for the divisive pornography bill debate, let me set the facts straight.

The fact is the porn bill debate started long before she came to fame three years ago. A legislative-initiated porn bill has been waiting its turn for discussion since 1999, and an instruction from the People's Consultative Assembly to draft a porn bill was passed in 2001.

Kongres Wanita Indonesia (Kowani), Indonesia's oldest women's organization established on Dec. 22, 1928, recommended in 2001 a bill on pornography. This was subsequently accepted by its 78 member organizations in 2004.

Indonesians have been concerned for a long time about pornography. Consider the situation where children have free access to any kind of pornography -- hard core, soft core, erotica, through comic books, erotic tabloids, VCDs and DVDs (rented or purchased). For the price of a schoolchild's pocket money, comic books can be had for two to three thousand rupiah, and five thousand rupiah for VCD/DVDs on street corners.

Also, children have free access to porn sites on the Internet at home as well as at Internet stalls (Warnet). Indeed, these are the places where children between nine and 12 years of age access pornography, according to a 2005 survey of primary schools in Jakarta and surrounding areas, which found that 80 percent of 1,700 respondents are exposed to pornography. (The survey was conducted by a member foundation of the Save Indonesian Children Alliance.)

Unlike Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, where porn sites are blocked by regulation, Indonesia does not have a similar regulation.

In a developing country such as Indonesia poverty and exploitation have more to do with children being trafficked or exploited for the sex industry than morality.

Indonesian laws pertaining to ""violations of polite behavior and public morals standards"" (Criminal Code 281-282-283) are weak and vague when it comes to protecting children from pornography. Indonesia is the only country in APEC that has yet to ratify the APEC convention on child pornography.

These conditions would I imagine worry any parent anywhere in the world including in the West. A bill on pornography is a necessity for Indonesia, and should not be painted as something sinister as a backdoor to Muslim conservatism, or worse a threat to unity and diversity.

INKE MARIS
Secretary-general
The Save Indonesian Children Alliance/ASA-Indonesia

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