In Indonesia, a long-awaited and contentious law has been passed that criminalizes sexual activity outside of marriage and prohibits unmarried couples from living together.
In Indonesia, sexual activity outside of marriage is illegal, and anyone caught engaging in it, including visitors visiting the Southeast Asian vacation paradise, faces jail time.
Tuesday, in broad changes to the penal code, members of Congress decided to make extramarital sex punishable by one year in prison and cohabitation by six months.
The regulations will apply to both Indonesians and foreigners, including tourists to the popular tourist destinations of Bali and the islands off the coast of Lombok.
The new legislation also prohibits the promotion of contraception, criticizing the sitting president, and propagating beliefs contrary to the Pancasila, the national secular worldview.
It will take three years for the legislation to take effect to allow for the drafting of accompanying regulations.
There is concern that the modifications would deter tourists.
As the economy and tourism were beginning to recover from the epidemic, Maulana Yusran, deputy chief of the tourism industry board, stated that the code was “completely counter-productive.”
We have already voiced our worry to the tourism ministry about how damaging this law is, he said, expressing disappointment that the government had closed its eyes.
Only close relatives, such as a spouse, parent, or kid, can file complaints about extramarital sexual activity or cohabitation.
This is a dilution of a previous version of the bill, whose passage in 2019 was halted by countrywide protests.
The modifications have been criticized by rights groups, who have stated that they are extremely broad or ambiguous and could penalize common actions as well as undermine the freedom of speech and the right to privacy.
Some campaigners praised it as a win for the LGBTQ minority in the country.
In the end, politicians agreed to repeal a provision offered by Islamic groups that would have criminalized homosexuality.
Under the amended code, abortion remains illegal, but exceptions are made for women with life-threatening medical problems and rape survivors, providing the fetus is fewer than 12 weeks old.
