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Cruel misunderstanding of sexual violence bill
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Standing up against sexual violence: Carrying black umbrellas, activists march on Jl. MH Thamrin, Central Jakarta toward Aspiration Park near the Presidential Palace. The activists held a mass rally as part of this year’s global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence campaign, during which they called on the government to immediately pass the sexual violence eradication bill into a law. (The Jakarta Post/Iqbal Yuwansyah)
T
he sexual violence bill aiming to protect victims and witnesses of sexual violence has become a hot topic as a result of a petition on Change.org titled “Tolak RUU Pro Zina” (Reject Pro-Adultery Bill).
The petition was started by a woman, Maimon Herawati, reportedly a lecturer, who appealed to the House of Representatives against passing the bill, arguing that it endorsed acts that were against Islamic values, such as consensual extramarital sexual relations, same-sex relations and even legalizing abortion.
She also argued that the bill would criminalize mothers who forced their daughters to wear the hijab. Yet, none of the articles in the current draft bill endorses those acts. If anything, a screenshot posted by Maimon on her Facebook account regarding the legalization of abortion and endorsement of a third gender was taken from a separate website, not from the draft bill that is available online.
In an interview, Maimon said the bill was “incomplete” as it did not directly criminalize sexual activities that were against Islamic and Eastern moral values, and according to her, if one act in a bill is not criminalized, it means that the law supports that said act (argumentum a contrario).
