rape caucus

Indonesian Judge Has Disturbing, Familiar View on Rape

Photo: Muhammad Nur Akhdiat/Corbis

A candidate for Indonesia’s Supreme Court finds himself in a situation familiar to a handful of American politicians this week. At a parliamentary commission hearing Monday, Daming Sanusi said that consideration should be taken when applying death penalty to rape cases because “in a rape case both the rapist and the victim enjoy it,” according to CNN. Once the news had spread on social media, Daming said at a news conference it had been a nervous joke. (Actually a much better excuse than the vague retractions from the G.O.P.’s rape conference.) Jakarta Post managing editor Primastuti Handayani wrote today that Daming is not an anomaly in Indonesia. Similar to the remarks made by Indian politicians in the aftermath of the New Delhi bus rape, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo has said women could avoid “unwanted consequences” by not wearing miniskirts on public transportation. After a Republican representative in Georgia publicly defended the views of party pariah Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin last week, Politico reported that the GOP was looking for ways to staunch the flow of bad press over offensive remarks about rape. One idea floated by crisis PR expert Marina Ein, was for the party to offer “sensitivity training” for its candidates. Maybe they should offer it online, too, for international students.  

Indonesian Judge Needs Rape Sensitivity Training