Indonesia approves bill against sexual violence

On Tuesday, Indonesia’s parliament enacted a long-awaited bill to combat sexual violence. The bill aims to provide a legal framework for victims to seek justice in a country where sexual abuse is generally treated as a private affair.

After six years of deliberation, a majority of legislators in parliament voted in favor of the bill, overcoming resistance from some conservative organizations in the world’s largest Muslim majority country.

“We hope that the implementation of this law will resolve sexual violence cases,” speaker of the house Puan Maharani said.

Activists have largely praised the measure, however some have criticized its narrow reach, which includes only a few sex crimes and leaves out a specific clause on rape, which the government has promised will be included in future legislation.

“This is surely a step forward,” said Asfinawati, a law expert at Jentera School of law, who has assisted sexual violence victims, while noting definitions of rape currently covered under the criminal code should still be made clearer.

The law’s final draft includes prison penalties of up to 12 years for crimes of physical sexual assault, both inside and outside of marriage, 15 years for sexual exploitation, nine years for forced marriage, including child marriage, and four years for disseminating non-consensual sexual content.

It said that convicted abusers must pay reparations and that authorities must offer victims with treatment.