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Doorless dorms will curb free sex: Minister
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2016
"Not only men and women who are doing it [sex]. The thing that is equally dangerous is men with men and women with women," she said in Semarang, Central Java, as quoted by Antara on Saturday.
Khofifah said removing the doors would make it easier to monitor salacious activities in university dorms. She said she drew her inspiration from a university dorm that had no doors in its rooms.
"When we asked why, they said they had anticipated the possibility of sex and so they removed the doors so that that behavior would not happen. That's why I'm recommending university dorms, both male and female, remove their doors."
Yesa Supit, a university student who lived in a dormitory in Tomohon, North Sulawesi, for three years, said she completely disagreed with the recommendation. "Doors are badly needed to protect privacy," she said.
When asked by reporters about student privacy, Khofifah responded: "A dormitory is either all-boy or all-girl. What privacy [do you need]?" she said.
Agyl Tri Pramesti, a 22-year-old lady who used to live in an all-female dormitory in East Kalimantan, said a lack of privacy was not the main concern about living in a dormitory.
"It's over the top [to get rid of doors] because we're not thinking of immoral behavior, but more about security," she said.
When she lived in the dormitory, Agyl, who currently studies technical engineering at Brawijaya University in Malang, East Java, said sometimes she felt unsafe even though the rooms had doors.
Human rights watchdog Setara Institute questioned Khofifah's rationale when she proposed the idea. "What's truly on her mind when she says 'free sex'? Is it something based on well-researched facts or is she just generalizing?" Setara Institute deputy chairman Bonar Tigor Naipospos asked The Jakarta Post.
He also questioned the importance of the government "protecting" the morals of society to the extent of managing what university students are doing in their dorm rooms.
"Why does the state want to become a moral police operation and enter into private matters? It violates privacy and restricts the rights of people. Why is this country becoming more conservative?" he said.
Bonar acknowledged that extra-marital sex was considered a sin in some religions. "But let religious leaders raise awareness on that subject, not the government," he said.
Khofifah's statement comes as conservative groups continue to rally against "liberal values" that they believe are threatening the country.
A number of conservative academics have filed a judicial review against the Criminal Code in a bid to make sex between unmarried couples, including same-sex couples, a crime.
Khofifah is one the top government officials backing this conservative agenda. Back in February, she accused the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community of "targeting underprivileged children".
She also said LGBT people could be "cured" of their homosexuality through emotional, spiritual and quotient (ESQ) training, despite there being no scientific proof attesting to this claim and the World Psychiatric Association saying that sexual orientation is an innate trait and not a disorder.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/10/31/doorless-dorms-will-curb-free-sex-minister.html.
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