The regulation, which defines sexual violence as activities — ranging from taking photos to penetration — without a victim’s consent, has been condemned by Muslim organizations that accuse the decree of legalizing premarital and extramarital sex.

The allegation is problematic at many levels. But let’s begin on how the conservatives perceive consent as a condition for sexual activities out of wedlock, while, in fact, consent is a prerequisite for sexual activities with or without marriage. It is very hard to think that in a civilized society, Indonesia included, one would seek physical pleasure and intimacy from another who does not want it.

With the very same spirit of exaggeration that the conservatives bring into the debate, can people now accuse them of forcing sex on their wives? Or is marriage a social construct that they build and sustain without the consent of their spouses and, therefore, allows them to commit violence against them?

These kinds of exaggerations and fallacies need to stop before the public in and outside the country begins to see religious conservatives as enablers, or even perpetrators, of sexual violence. And this can’t be good, as Muslim organizations, including Islam-based political parties, are increasingly perceived in a negative light, such as what has happened to hard-line groups like the now disbanded Islam Defenders Front (FPI).

Let’s put the decree in the right context. Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim issued the regulation after a string of sexual violence cases that occurred on campuses across the country, which were allegedly perpetrated by not only students but also lecturers. And for so many years, people, especially the victims, have remained silent due to the stigma they would endure if they dared to speak up.  

Sexual violence is essentially a robbery, aggression on one’s body, a form of oppression. It is when perpetrators force themselves on the victims and deprive them of their rights to their own bodies — the very core, and the basic possession, of every human. If one does not have control over their own body, what other liberty can they expect?

A man may justify the non-consensual sex he commits against his wife under religious teachings, which too often are subjectively interpreted only to support these heinous acts. The teachings in the Quran and hadith (a collection of traditions containing Prophet Muhammad’s sayings), for example, are actually aimed at maintaining chastity between two married people and the sanctity of a family, which is the smallest unit in society. But it is never meant as a rule to justify non-consensual sex or even violence against women in or outside marriage.

So, before everything goes out of context, let’s be clear that sexual offenders are predators, criminals who take away the most precious belonging from another human being. Then, we can stop overthinking about sex and begin to capture these predators before they prey on more victims.