Advocating for Change: Cultural and Institutional Factors of Sexual Violence in Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract Recent years have seen a disturbing surge in media reports of sexual violence in Indonesia. Notably, in June 2021, news emerged of Herry Wirawan, a teacher and owner of the Madani religious boarding school in Bandung, West Java, who had perpetrated heinous acts of sexual violence. This chapter examines how cultural and institutional factors in Indonesia have reinforced sexual violence from the perspective of advocates and supporters of the Sexual Violence Bill (UU TPKS) and how they advocate for change. The activists and ulama we zoom in on are from Komnas Perempuan (Komisi Nasional Anti Kekerasan terhadap Perempuan) National Commission on Violence against Women), KPAI (Komisi Perlindungan Anak Indonesia; Indonesian Child Protection Commission), the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet), KPI (Koalisi PerempuanIndonesia, Indonesian Women’s Coalition) and KUPI (Kongres Ulama Perempuan Indonesia, Congress of Indonesian Gender-Just Ulama). Within the broader global discourse on this issue, we introduce the concept of ‘the opacity of secluded spaces’ to capture the tendency of some institutions to facilitate and sustain spatially and ideologically closed systems to which the outside world has minimal access. This concept encapsulates the lack of transparency and the tangible nature of events within physically segregated spaces, particularly in religious schools, where unequal gender and asymmetrical power relations can fuel sexual violence. We argue that the interplay of violence and gender, the opacity of secluded spaces, unequal gender dynamics, asymmetrical power relations, and a lack of oversight all significantly contribute to the perpetuation of sexual violence in such institutions. Methodologically, our analysis draws from discussions with ten activists andulama, as well as an examination of documents coded using the qualitative data analysis software MAXQDA, including legal documents, news articles, and reports.

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