Indonesia is all set to criminalise sex outside of marriage. On Tuesday, the country’s Parliament approved the legislation that outlaws extramarital sex. It also made several other revisions to the criminal code. The code, if and when signed by the President, will turn into law that will apply to residents as well as tourists.
Since 2019, the bill has been in the works but on December 6, 2022, it was finally approved. Here’s what all is included under the ban:
- Intercourse outside of marriage will land you in jail.
- If caught having sex without being married, you could be jailed for a year.
- Charges for cohabitation by unmarried couples could attract six months imprisonment.
However, these charges for adultery must be based on police complaints filed by the partner, parents or children of the concerned persons.
That’s not all, promoting contraception and blasphemy along with insulting national leaders and national ideology, will also be criminalised.
In case the President reports you for insulting him in public, you’ll be put behind the bars for three year.
And acting out of line with the central tenets of Indonesia’s recognised religions (Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism) will result in five years in jail. The legislation repealed the article from the bill that banned same-sex intercourse, though gay marriage continues to be illegal.
The Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights Edward Hiariej told AFP that it is “impossible” to implement the criminal code in a year. Owing to implementational regulations that are yet to be worked out, it could take up to three years for the country to switch to the new code.