Indonesia bans sex outside marriage in sweeping new criminal code, extends law to tourists

Lawmakers in the Southeast Asian country of Indonesia have unanimously passed a new law banning sex outside of marriage

UPDATED DEC 6, 2022

Indonesia has passed a law banning sex outside marriage (Getty Images)

JAKARTA, INDONESIA: The Southeast Asian country of Indonesia passed a law banning sex outside of marriage on Tuesday, December 6, which will also have a direct impact on tourists. As reported by several local media outlets, the law has been in the pipeline for several years and has now been turned into a legal code. Several Islamic countries in different parts of the world ban alcohol and gambling and treat homosexuality and adultery as 'offenses,' with many punishing the accused with 'public floggings.'

The Minister of Law and Human Rights, Yasonna Laoly, said in a press conference that there will be strong opposition and that it won't be so easy to pass such a law in a multiethnic and multicultural country to create a criminal code that would "accommodate all interests." In a country of more than 270 million people, Laoly urged people to file a judicial review with the Constitutional Court, CNN reported. "All have agreed to ratify the (draft changes ) into law," said lawmaker Bambang Wuryanto, who heads the parliamentary commission to revise the law, which dates back to colonial times. "The old code belongs to Dutch heritage... and is no longer relevant." The new code, which applies to foreign residents and tourists, prohibits cohabitation before marriage, apostasy and provides penalties for insulting the president or expressing views against national ideology.

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Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International, called the new development, a ‘huge setback’ in the fight against protecting human rights. BBC reported that it is most likely that the people will challenge the new laws in court, and claim that the law will apply to tourists visiting the nation as well. Taufik Basari, a NasDem party legislator further shared with the Guardian that if a tourist visiting Bali had consensual sex with an Indonesian national for instance, and if it was reported to police by the Indonesian’s parent or child, the tourist can be arrested immediately. “I know it will impact tourism, which is why we should explain to the public that police reports should be limited to what the family feels is important,” he said. “As a parliamentarian, I will try to find more limitations for the implementation of these articles.”

Citra Referandum, the director of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute, participated in a small protest outside the parliament building in Jakarta on Tuesday, as she anticipates ‘people’s anger will mount’. “Indonesian democracy is dead,” she said. “This is reflected in a process that is not transparent or participatory and the anti-democratic substance of the criminal code.”