TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The directorate general of higher education, research, and technology on Tuesday responded to criticism aimed at the Education Minister’s Regulation that focuses on protection for victims of sexual violence. Some have alleged the new regulation of legalizing adultery.

The education, research, and technology director general Nizam disagrees with the allegations and blamed it on critics misperceiving and misunderstanding what the act is meant to serve.

“Not even a word in the regulation shows that the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry allows adultery. The title itself focuses on prevention not legalization,” wrote Nizam in a statement on Tuesday, November 9.

He asserts that the Minister's Regulation focuses on prevention and how to act upon cases involving sexual violence/ “The definition and regulations overseen by it is specially meant to prevent and handle cases in the sexual violence realm,” he added.

The criticism against the regulation came from Muhammadiyah which questioned the regulation’s Article 5 (2) that mentions about consent, which the Islamic organization believes degrades the substance of sexual violence and could be mean that adultery is allowed as long as it’s consentual.

Muhammadiyah believes this phrase creates a ‘right-or-wrong’ standing for sexual activities between people and no longer refers to religious norms and values. An organization representative, Arsyad, fears that it would imply that as long as there are no coercians, adultery is allowed with consent and outside of a legal marriage.

Read: Govt Urges Universities to Form Sexual Violence Prevention Task Force

DEWI NURITA