Saturday, July 06, 2019

Indonesia's nascent #MeToo movement receives a body blow

If we think things are going badly here - or in America or in Britain or whatever you like - spare a thought for poor benighted Indonesia.
Rarely mentioned in the press, Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country (and the fourth most populous country of any kind), and a horribly conservative and repressive society. It has only found its way into the news now thanks to the work of some brave women, and the patriarchal backlash against them.
Specifically, Baiq Nuril Baknun, a teacher on the Indonesian island of Lombok, who reported the abusive and lewd phone calls from her school principal, resulting in his eventual dismissal, has had the tables turned against her, and had been convicted herself of violating Indonesia's strict pornography laws. The Supreme Court of Indonesia overturned her earlier acquittal by a lower court, after the disgruntled principal brought a case against her, and has jailed Ms. Baknun for 6 months and fined her over $46,000, all for recording her superior's phone abuse in support of her own allegations.
The court decision can apparently not be appealed. The only possibility is of a grant of amnesty by President Joko Widodo, but don't hold your breath for that particular outcome.
So, here we have a censorious patriarchal society closing ranks, and closing down dissent from Indonesia's nascent, but very tentative, #MeToo movement before it even gets going. It does not bode well.

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