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Ministerial decree against sexual violence faces pushback from Islamic groups
The regulation, signed on Aug. 31 but not published until October, was issued to address sexual violence in the country’s higher education institutions, which Nadiem said was one of the three “great sins” – the other two being intolerance and bullying – in the national education system that he wanted to abolish.
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President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo (left) congratulates newly inaugurated Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim (right) and Investment Minister/Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head Bahlil Lahadalia (center) after their
inauguration ceremony at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. (Handout/Presidential Secretariat/Rusman)
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ducation, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim has found himself in the spotlight after signing a ministerial regulation aimed at addressing sexual violence in universities that has been rejected by some conservative Muslim groups, which have argued it contravenes religious norms in the country.
The regulation, signed on Aug. 31 but not published until October, was issued to address sexual violence in the country’s higher education institutions, which Nadiem said was one of the three “great sins” – the other two being intolerance and bullying – in the national education system that he wanted to abolish.
It is also the second regulation issued by Nadiem to have met pushback from conservative groups. In February, he initiated the issuance of a joint ministerial decree banning public schools from making hijabs mandatory for non-Muslim students, which was later revoked by the Supreme Court following a petition from religious group.
The newly published regulation provides a wider definition of sexual violence, which includes verbal, physical and nonphysical sexual assault, as well as assault through information and communication technology. It also introduces an array of punishments for perpetrators of sexual violence in universities, including dismissal or expulsion of the perpetrators.
Students have welcomed the regulation, which they say is a “big step” in the fight against sexual violence in the country’s universities, and hope that it will be followed up by the passing of the sexual violence eradication bill.
Read also: 'Big step': Students, lecturers laud decree to fight sexual violence on campuses
Some Muslim groups, however, were quick to criticize the regulation, which they interpret as a legal basis to justify extramarital sex in the country’s higher education institutions.
