Contesting religious authority in response to government regulations on the prevention and handling of campus sexual violence (CSV) in Indonesia

Abstract

According to the Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC) Indonesia is currently in a ‘state of emergency’ on the issue of Campus Sexual Violence (CSV). The Ministry recently issued a decree, Permendikbud 30/2021, to eliminate CSV. The decree has received various responses, both positive and negative. Scholars have begun to discuss CSV and the role of religious authorities or people/institutions who speak on behalf of Islam in Indonesia to address the issue. This article discusses the contestation between the conservative and female ulama (religious scholars), their rejection and acceptance responses, as well as demands that the decree be revised. Additionally, it discusses how female ulama have responded to the decree. Female ulama are challenging both the liberal label and stigma and the victimization approach that has led to the acceptance of sexual violence crimes. Applying a virtual ethnography, this article examines current newspaper articles and reports and social media statuses and comments which discuss the decree and cases of CSV in the period between November to December 2021. It argues that female ulama have become a new source of religious authority to challenge and contest male bias in religious interpretation on the prevention and handling of CSV.