Chapter 1 - Introduction

Summary

ABSTRACT

In the introductory chapter, I introduce Indonesia's latest criminal code that criminalizes the act of extramarital sex. Then, I delineate the prevalence of commercial sex activities and indicate how prostitution is religiously, socially and legally prohibited and socially undesirable. (Riswanda, Nantes, and Mills 2016). Here I find the need to emphasize the exposure of the existing research gap on addressing commercial sex and sex tourism in contemporary Indonesia's sex trade market primarily or exclusively, as literature prefers examining organized sex crimes in Thailand, Cambodia or Southeast Asia in general (Davy 2014; Rojanapithayakorn 2006). I highlight the importance of addressing prostitution in Indonesia, as such activity, given the religious and historical contexts, is deemed highly controversial domestically. To conclude the chapter, I present the contents that will be discussed in the following chapters, as an overview of the focus of this book.

INTRODUCTION

On 13 April 2023, I returned to Taipei City, Taiwan, after spending the preceding months in Boston, Cambridge (United Kingdom), Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. I was appointed as a visiting fellow at the Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica in Taiwan and a fellow at Harvard University Asia Centre in Boston in 2022/23. As my research endeavours in Boston had already been wrapped up, I relocated to Taipei City to fulfil my research errands prior to the end of my visiting fellowship appointment contract (i.e., 30 June 2023). On 18 April 2023, I met my native Taiwanese friend who has been a typical digital nomad and usually spends her time in Tokyo, Taipei City and Europe. We were having a conversation over a few cups of ice-drip coffee. I told her I was recently working on a monograph on Indonesia's extramarital sex criminalization—the book that you are now reading. She was taken aback by the topic of my research investigation not only because she had not realized Indonesia has criminalized anti-extramarital sex, but more because she had never expected any Asian country of today would practise such a societally controversial and perhaps “morally outdated and/or conservative” law (note: In Chapter 5, I will explain why passing such a law is contextually important to Indonesia).