By Lara Stemple

AS disturbing new reports of male rape in Congo made clear, wartime sexual violence isn’t limited to women and girls. But in its ongoing effort to eradicate rape during conflict, the United Nations continues to overlook a significant imperative: ending wartime sexual assault of men and boys as well.

Sexual violence against men does occasionally make the news: the photographs of the sexual abuse and humiliation of Iraqi men at the Abu Ghraib prison, for example, stunned the world.

Yet there are thousands of similar cases, less well publicized but well documented by researchers, in places as varied as Chile, Greece and Iran. The United Nations reported that out of 5,000 male concentration camp detainees held near Sarajevo during the Bosnian conflict, 80 percent acknowledged having been abused sexually. In El Salvador, 76 percent of male political prisoners told researchers they had experienced sexual torture.

Rape has long been a way to humiliate, traumatize and silence the enemy. For many of the same reasons that combatants assault women and girls, they also rape men and boys.

Nevertheless, international legal documents routinely reflect the assumption that sexual violence happens only to women and girls. There are dozens of references to “violence against women” — defined to include sexual violence — in United Nations human rights resolutions, treaties and agreements, but most don’t mention sexual violence against men.

Ignoring male rape has a number of consequences. For one, it not only neglects men and boys, it also harms women and girls by reinforcing a viewpoint that equates “female” with “victim,” thus hampering our ability to see women as strong and empowered.

In the same way, silence about male victims reinforces unhealthy expectations about men and their supposed invulnerability. Such hyper-masculine ideals encourage aggressive behavior in men that is dangerous for the women and girls with whom they share their lives.

Sex-specific stereotypes also distort the international community’s response. Women who have suffered rape in conflict have likely endured non-sexual trauma as well. But when they are treated as “rape victims,” their other injuries get minimized.

Conversely, when men have experienced sexual abuse and are treated solely as “torture victims,” we ignore the sexual component of their suffering. Indeed, doctors and emergency aid workers are rarely trained to recognize the physical signs of male rape or to provide counseling to its victims.

Our failure to acknowledge male rape leaves it in the shadows, compounding the humiliation that survivors experience. For instance, the majority of Tamil males in Sri Lanka who were sexually assaulted during that country’s long civil war did not report it to the authorities at the time, later explaining that they were simply too ashamed.

The United Nations has attempted to take wartime rape seriously. In 2000 the Security Council passed Resolution 1325 which, among other things, promotes gender-sensitive training in peacekeeping, encourages hiring more women in peacekeeping roles and calls for better protection of women and girls in conflict zones. This is a crucial undertaking, but the agreement neglects to address sexual violence against men and boys.

At a ceremony last year marking the resolution’s 10th anniversary, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the United States would develop a plan to accelerate the advancement of its goals, including $44 million for women’s equality initiatives around the world.

This is an important commitment. But the American government should expand its efforts to include the many international programs working with men and boys to challenge entrenched ideas about manhood and to stop the cycle of violence.

The International Criminal Court, nearly all American states and many countries use a sex-neutral definition of sexual assault. The United Nations and the White House must likewise move beyond the shortcomings of Resolution 1325 and commit to ending wartime sexual violence against everyone.

Now that is something you don’t get in the Indonesian media who are always hungry for sensational news regardless of the news value.

What do you guys think of the article? Do comment.

Suryadharma Ali, the Religious Affair Minister. (Taken from Republika News)

After Marzuki Ali’s recent commotion on Indonesian housemaids, Suryadharma Ali, Indonesia’s very own Religious Affairs Minister, proved to the world that he is indeed an incompetent like what most people think.

Among the plethora of questions in the stories of Indonesia’s religious freedom under the rule of our no-so-competent president, I have just one to ask: What the heck does a Religious Affairs Minister do anyway?

While I think it’s interesting that some governments make their own posts, like Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew who holds the “Mentor Minister” seat, it is an incredible waste of our taxpayers’ money to be spent on a post that is taken by a man like Suryadharma Ali who obviously has failed to do his job.

I am sure that one of the jobs by a Religious Affairs Minister is to handle, maintain and encourage harmony in a multi-religion country like Indonesia, but with all that is happening, that seems to be not the case.

Regarding the attacks and killing of Ahmadiyah, Suryadharma Ali has repeatedly denounced the violence, but on many occasions he points the blame to the victims for poking the faith of the majority. He also said that disbanding Ahmadiyah would solve the dilemma.

This was said to an audience of big Islamic organizations such as MUI, Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah, and hardliner such as Hizbut Tahrir, which they all agreed upon to.

This is major bigotry, irony, and hypocrisy combined, especially coming from these Islamic leaders.

When the Indonesian public had an outcry and called on the disbanding of the FPI, Indonesia’s Islamic organization who often resort to violence, other Islamic organizations like MUI, Muhammadiyah and Hizbut Tahrir told the public that “disbanding an organization was not a good way to solve things”.

But disbanding Ahmadiyah will help solve things? Why? Because it’s convenient to do so?

If something is a deviant to Islam is worth disbanding, why is Ahmadiyah alone in this picture? Help me understand how is FPI not a deviance to Islam?

Apparently according to them, Ahmadiyah is regarded “deviant” due to the suggestion that they do not believe the prophet was Muhammad, but instead another man.

FPI, on the other hand, believes Muhammad was the last prophet but does not believe the Islamic tenet of peace and kindness. They believe bamboo sticks, rusty sharp objects, stones, or any object ready-to-hurt as their way or preaching Islam to the world.

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The Fashion of FPI - Arab Garments and Stones [Courtesy of Kompasiana

If Ahmadiyah was to be disbanded simply for the reason of deviance, I believe in every respect of equality and fairness that FPI along with other organizations of violent records to be treated the same.

Government should also look upon the effectiveness or even purpose of the Department of Religion, and especially the leader they choose to elect as minister.

Quoting from The Jakarta Globe, Suryadharma told the audience of major Islamic organizations, and hardline Hizbut Tahrir:

“We [the government] do not have the right to disband Ahmadiyah. That right lies in the hands of esteemed ulema. We, the government, only have the right to regulate and control, not to disband or excommunicate.”

I’m sorry, what?

The right to disband Ahmadiyah lies in the hands of esteemed ulema? How is it the right of the ulemas to disband a religious group? And by the way, esteemed is the last word I would describe these ulemas.

Let me get this straight, a WHOLE department dedicated to dealing with religious affairs, paid for by the people of Indonesia, have no power to disband a religious group? (Not that they should).

What exactly are the people of Indonesia paying for?  Religious harmony? Oh wait, they can’t do that too.

And I don’t know what the government is regulating, or controlling, because nothing seems to be either regulated or controlled. Ask the followers of Ahmadiyah, they know.

Another stretch of irony, head of Muhammadiyah (yes one of the groups who agreed Ahmadiyah was a deviant sect) Din Syamsuddin, gave a positive note that “pluralism is God’s will”.

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Din Syamsuddin, Head of Muhammadiyah [Taken from LiraNews

“People who do not want to live side by side in peace with others who are different from them, and who then try to expel or even kill others because of the difference, do not pass God`s test.Islam is a religion of love that aims to bring peace to the world and all human beings.Let us spread good deeds on earth and avoid destructive acts,”

Seriously, what are they doing?

Marzuki Alie, Head of HOR (Courtesy of VivaNews)

Head of Indonesia’s House of Representatives, Marzuki Ali (cool name), lashes out against the exporting of Indonesian housemaids to foreign countries, calling the act “a bad move” and staining Indonesia’s reputation on an international stage.

He further added that many of these workers sent overseas are unskilled, making them prone to domestic abuse.

His remarks drew criticisms from organizations, and the public which many feel that it is “insulting” our “deficit heroes”. Whatever poetic names the public is going to call them, all I got to say is (as much as I hate to), the guy is not entirely wrong, except for the way he says it.
Exporting machinery, clothes, technology, media, etc; those are the cool stuff. When you go overseas, and sees a car made from your country, you get a tingling sense of pride. Japanese would feel that way everywhere.

But when your country is famous overseas for producing domestic labor, somehow deep in your head, that’s not something one should be proud upon. Why? I don’t know, I guess it’s just not “cool”.

A China national wouldn’t like it you were to say their country produces the best whores in the business.  A person from Bangladesh would bash you for calling their people all construction workers and illegal immigrants. A person from Malaysia would disagree if you were to say their country breeds Islamic terrorists, and racist Malays.

These issues overshadow the positive achievements of these countries.

And Marzuki Ali was right to point this out; that Indonesia’s reputation on domestic labor overshadows many other of Indonesia’s achievements and exports.

For example, Indonesia is a main exporter of shoes to many European countries, Indonesian students overseas ALWAYS get gold medals in International competitions (academic), Indonesia has highly artistic people and taste that are world renowned, and that many countries depend on Indonesia’s natural resources.

But when you go to a country such as Malaysia,  no one knows about these things, except the fact that plenty of Indonesians are housemaids. Usually with negative tone.

The branding of Singapore Airlines is known worldwide through the picture of a smiling, often quite attractive “Singapore Girl” wearing a Batik uniform. Singapore Girl is the airline’s mascot, and it works great for them. If the same mascot was used to promote Indonesia, the “Indonesia Girl” wouldn’t look nice and neat in Batik. She would be wearing t-shirt, pants, hair tied with a scrunchie and a mop on her hand, smiling and sweaty.

Now, there’s nothing wrong about being a housemaid. I think people who become maids are strong, and brave bunch. Being able to be away from their beloved family, usually for long period of time, and to endure the culture shock, loneliness and in some cases, the abuse.

But having a housemaid as an image, as a brand, is simply not attractive. It does not take a marketer to know that. And Marzuki Ali realizes this, and feels the need to address this issue, however, with poor execution skills.

There are some things that he said that were inappropriate for national television, so I guess he deserves the bad coverage.

I’m just here to outline the real issue, without provocation.

Ariel, the Victim

From a national pop sensation, to a porn superstar in just over a night; Not quite your conventional career transition.

You see, most career changes involving Indonesian celebrities usually end up in the House of Representatives, or as your next mayor, or district heads.

Ariel Peterpan, however, took a slightly different path.

His private sex tapes were leaked by an unknown source, and their videos are downloaded at an explosive rate. His names are all over; from blogs, television, magazines, newspapers, social networking sites and he even made it on the pages of New York Times.

I’m not here to talk about Ariel, or Luna Maya, or Cut Tari. You can find more credible sources out there.

I’m here to talk about how Indonesia’s fixation of sex, be it scandalous or not, is damaging this country.

You see, sex in this country is not a taboo despite what everybody thinks. Everyone here talks about sex. We have newspapers specializing in publishing racy photos, sex articles, sex-related crimes, and all of these are not exactly journalistic pieces.

Islamic groups here objected to the existence of Playboy magazine, but not to cheap production of local pornographic novels that used words such as ‘swords’, ‘dark wet caves’, ‘bushes’, and other gross association.

If sex was taboo, millions of Jakarta citizens wouldn’t watch Peterporn together at their offices, sometimes with their bosses. If sex was taboo, no television stations would have gotten into trouble for rolling some scenes of the porn. If sex was taboo, the statistics of teenage sex in this country wouldn’t have reached 60% and over.

And that’s exactly the problem.

Sexual liberation in Indonesia is seen as a threat to morality, and porn is blamed as the driving force of this process. The result: The Pornography Law, created by a bunch of conservative worn out lawmakers oblivious to the real problems of this country.

Activists opposing the Pornography Law in court

The controversial Pornography Law prohibits the action of producing, distributing, replicating, selling, buying and/or even downloading porn.  Just by reading this, you know this law will fail, and serves nothing but to mask the truth.

First of all, if downloading and buying porn in this country can get you in jail for 4-5 years, Indonesia will have most of its population behind bars. Even the guys who run the prisons will be jailed.

However, Ariel Peterpan is at risk of being charged under the Pornography Law of producing pornographic material, which could carry a maximum of 12 years in jail, EVEN though, he was taping his sex scene for private viewing.

It’s funny that hard-line Islamic groups out there, like the FPI, dare to label him and the women involved as “Moral Terrorists”, when in reality they are victims of theft, blackmail, and extortion, three very serious crimes in this country. If Ariel, Luna Maya, and Cut Tari are moral terrorists, whatever that means, I can’t imagine what to call the FPI members… Oh, that’s right, terrorists. 

What these people need is support, and in fact, help, from everyone because their rights have been violated. They should have the right to record themselves having sex privately as much as having the right to download porn in this country without getting caught. Yes, that includes all of us.

You know what’s really taboo in this country? Religions.

As one of the most religious countries in the world, Indonesians are afraid, and refrain to talk about religions. Except of course, if it was positive.

But if one was to criticize a certain religion, especially the ones that most people in this country believe in, all hell will break loose, but at the same time, the media will start to shut up, so will the police.

And crimes involving religions are usually treated more leniently, or so it seems.

There was a man by the name Syeh Puji, and somehow, someway, he managed to marry this girl called Ulfa, who was obviously a child. The National Commission of Children Protection (KOMNASPA) filed a report to the police to make an arrest as this obviously broke the law, not to mention, it is horrifying to imagine a man marrying someone who is the age of his grand-daughter.

Ulfa and Syeh Puji

In short, Syeh Puji was not arrested, and let free. No one knows why he was released, but it could be because he was apparently quite rich, or maybe, just maybe the fact that, his status, and his religion allows underage marriage to take place, and he even said that to his defense during his arrest.

And when this happened, FPI and other hard-line groups were not seen protesting against Syeh Puji’s criminal act. They, surprisingly, kept quiet.

FPI is also known for its act above the law, yet receiving no whatsoever consequences.

With their record of violence, all in the name of God and religion, police have been soft on them. In fact, not just the police, but even mayors have bowed down to their pressure. This could be because of their violent nature, but it could also be because of religious pressure.

FPI (Islamic Defenders Front) doing their thing: Anarchy

This is a major problem in Indonesia as far as I see it, because police are sending signal that it is more acceptable to beat people up in public and destroying things, than it is to make love to your lovers on tape.

House of Representatives, well, without representatives

What this nation should focus right now, is honestly not Ariel making love to Luna Maya, or Cut Tari, but to our lawmakers who have not passed a single law since the new cabinet is sworn in, yet all of our taxes are wasted on them.

More importantly, Indonesia needs to wake up and realize the real dangers, and which by the way, is not sex. It is the lack of education, corruption, mafia-nism, and the growing false-sense of Islamization that is attacking our constitution, our unity, and our youth.

Indonesians need to worry and fix our country’s inability to uphold laws where, and when they need to be, regardless of religions, cultures, ethnicity, and political/economical background.

We need to realize that each and every one of us has basic rights guaranteed by our constitution, and if some groups or laws are causing us to lose these rights, we need to teach them some lessons. We need to show them that we too have the voice to speak, to shout back, to attack back, and take back what should belong to most of us; peace.

Growing sense of Islamization: Jihad

To KOMNASPA, there are things more damaging to children’s minds than porn, and they are violence and religious extremism. I don’t see them on the frontline when it comes to these.

FPI (Islamic Defenders Front), and other hard-liners should never be given the space to preach in this country. Their message of hatred, and violence will further stain Indonesia’s image, and Islam itself. Corrupt the minds of the young, and steal the most basic privillege we should have; our peace of mind.

To Ariel, Luna Maya, and Cut Tari, all the best for them. Support from Indonesians have surfaced everywhere, and it even goes beyond our borders.

Most notably, Vicky Vette on her Twitter account.

And to all the people who frown about sex, grow up.

Peterpan obviously has.

GERAKAN FACEBOOK MENDUKUNG ARIEL, LUNA, DAN TARI!

Join this group to support Ariel, Luna Maya, and Cut Tari.

This is the link to the support group:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=112615852118616

If the link on the picture does not work, simply login to facebook, and search:

GERAKAN FACEBOOK MENDUKUNG ARIEL, LUNA MAYA, CUT TARI, DAN KESADARAN BANGSA.