The parliament of Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, approved on Tuesday a revision of the penal code that criminalizes and punishes adultery and sexual relations outside marriage with imprisonment.
The vice president of the Indonesian parliament, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, declared the proposal approved, which obtained the majority of votes in plenary.
According to a copy of the new criminal code obtained by the Associated Press (AP) news agency, sexual relations outside of marriage are punishable by one year in prison and cohabitation by six months in prison.
Adultery charges must be based on complaints made to the police by a spouse, parent, or child.
The sanctions apply to both Indonesian citizens and foreigners residing in the country.
The revision, which introduces other significant changes to the country’s penal code, has been criticized by opponents as a setback to freedoms in Indonesia, criminalizing normal activities and threatening freedom of expression and the right to privacy.
The law also makes it illegal to promote contraception and religious blasphemy and reinstates the ban on insulting a sitting president and vice president, state institutions, and national ideology.
Abortion remains a crime, but the code adds exceptions for women with life-threatening medical conditions and rape survivors, as long as the fetus is less than 12 weeks old, according to a 2004 medical law.
In a country where 87% of the more than 270 million inhabitants are Muslims, conservative lawmakers had also demanded the criminalization of same-sex relationships, an article that was eventually removed from the law.
In April, Indonesia’s parliament passed a decade-long anti-sexual violence law that improves victims’ access to justice.
The approval was greeted with applause by Indonesian women’s rights activists, who for years have condemned the lack of action against sexual and gender-based violence.
Sexual assaults in Indonesia are often viewed as a private matter and victims are discouraged from seeking justice.
Sexual assaults within and outside of marriage are now punishable by up to 12 years in prison and forced marriages, including those of minors, by up to nine years in prison.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo called on parliament in January to speed up the review of the law following the 2021 trial of a teacher who raped 13 of his underage students, a case that shocked public opinion.
The Southeast Asian archipelago has seen a spike in reports of violence against women since the coronavirus pandemic began in late 2019.
The Violence Against Women Commission reported 338,496 cases in 2021, 50% more than the previous year, according to data cited by the France-Presse news agency.
Source: TSF
