It’s all over the news…

You can go to jail in Indonesia for up to a year if you engage in sexual relations outside marriage.

According to BBC News, this time the new legislation is deemed to be enforced.

Critics see the laws as a “disaster” for human rights.

The new legislation applies to both locals and foreigners living or visiting Indonesia.

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The previous law forbade sex between a married man and someone who was not his wife. Now, the new law bans all sex outside marriage.

According to the new criminal code, Indonesians are also banned from living together.

They could face six months in jail if caught living together before formally tying the knot.

Furthermore, adultery will be a serious offence that will also lead to imprisonment.

This could have an unprecedented impact on the lives of many Indonesians and foreign tourists.

“I think living together or having sex outside of marriage is not a crime. In my religion, it’s considered a sin. But I don’t think the criminal code should be based on a certain religion“, says Ajeng, a 28-year-old Muslim woman who has been living with her partner for the past five years in West Java.

Ajeng and hundreds of young Indonesians protested against the law outside parliament in Jakarta on Monday, 6 December 2022.

This is a “huge setback for a country that has tried to portray itself as a modern Muslim democracy”, commented Human Rights Watch Asia to BBC News.

Meanwhile, conservative Indonesians and many Islamic civil groups welcomed the new changes.