Ministry Of Religion Supports Minister Of Education And Culture Regulation No. 30/2021 On PPKS: There Are No Words To Legalize Adultery

Secretary General of the Ministry of Religion Nizar Ali. (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Secretary-General of the Ministry of Religion Nizar Ali emphasized that there is no reason for his institution not to support the Minister of Education and Culture Regulation (Permendikbud) 30/2021 concerning the Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence (PPKS) which had been signed by Minister Nadim Makarim.

"Therefore, this regulation is very good. It provides protection for women from acts of sexual violence. Therefore, the Ministry of Religion has no reason not to support it," said Nizar Ali in Palembang, Thursday.

Nizar explained that the Permendikbud must be understood in its entirety without being separated from the context. The Minister of Education and Culture provides space and an umbrella for victims of sexual violence to have the courage to speak up and to accommodate the rights of victims.

On the one hand, this Permendikbud is also a kind of fortress that will close the space for perpetrators of sexual violence in the educational environment.

Meanwhile, the phrase that was debated by a number of parties, especially Article 5 paragraph (2), namely "without the consent of the victim", is a misperception.

According to Nizar, the article does not mean "legalizing adultery in the campus environment", but instead protects women from all forms of sexual violence they experience. This is because sexual violence is not only physical, but non-physical (verbal), such as jokes or calls that demean women.

"Well, this context, in this Permendikbud is the context for preventing and taking action against sexual harassment. So there are no words that legalize adultery. Nobody says legalizing adultery at all. That's a big mistake," he said.

According to him, his party has conveyed to all religious universities under the authority of the Ministry of Religion to support the PPKS Permendikbud.

Chancellors are encouraged to create their own work units (satkers) as a step in creating an educational environment that is free from sexual violence and protects women's rights.

"Because this is at the university level, each satker will be in charge. The Chancellor will be in charge there. So later if there is an academic community who is harassed, the chancellor will act," he said.

Previously, Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said his party would soon issue a circular letter to support the policy of the Minister of Education and Culture 30/2021 on the Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence in universities.

The Minister of Religion agreed with Nadiem who stated that sexual violence was a barrier to achieving national education goals.

"We must not turn a blind eye, that sexual violence occurs a lot in the educational environment. And we do not want this to continue," said the Minister of Religion.