Acheh imposes curfew on women after 11pm

They are vulnerable to sexual harassment so they need to be protected, says mayor.

JAKARTA: The Muslim province of Aceh has imposed restrictions that working women should be back home by 11pm.

Women who work in sports and entertainment centres as well as tourism spots should go home by 11pm, under a directive that took effect on June 4, Banda Aceh mayor Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal said.

Children and women are advised not to be in such places after 10pm unless accompanied by male relatives, she said.

“Women in Aceh are vulnerable to sexual harassment so we want to protect them from untoward incidents,” Illiza said.

A recent study by a parenting and children foundation, Kita dan Buah Hati, said cases of sexual harassment were higher in Aceh than in any other province in Indonesia.

Employers could lose business licences if they flout the directive, but there will be no punishment for women who break the curfew, she said.

“They will be asked to go home and be given a warning,” she said.

Women in some professions such as nurses and midwives are exempted from the curfew, she said.

Syariah law has been in force in Aceh since the early 2000s as part of Jakarta’s attempts to pacify demands for independence, sources said.

Drinking, gambling and mixing with the opposite sex while unmarried are punishable by public caning.

In 2005, the government and separatist rebels of the Free Aceh Movement signed a peace deal ending decades of armed conflict, which claimed an estimated 15,000 lives.

– BERNAMA-NNN-DPA