Indonesia’s fight for a law against sexual violence needs to involve a discussion of Islamic values

This year, the House of Representatives of Indonesia (DPR) has returned for the second time in five years to the subject of law reform in the effort to eliminate sexual violence. This follows many years of lobbying by women’s rights advocates seeking wide ranging reform to end sexual violence and violence against women as part of their efforts to promote women’s rights and gender equality. Right from the beginning, such efforts have faced persistent opposition from conservatives and from parliamentary representatives both from Islamic and secular political parties.