A FRESH LOOK AT SEXUALITY AND HIV/AIDS: THE INDONESIAN EXPERIENCE | Wattie | Populasi 11712 22696 1 PB

A FRESH LOOK AT SEXUALITY AND

HIV/AIDS:

THE

INDONESIANEXPERIENCE*

Anna

Marie Wattie**

Intisari

EpidemiAIDS telah ikut memicu minat studi danpenelitianseksualitas di

kolanganakademisi danpraktisi.Halinikarena

penanganan

masalah AIDS tidak

dapat dilepaskandaripemahamantentangperilaku seksual

sebagai

salah

satufaktor

dalam transmisi

HIV/AIDS.

Sementara itu,suatuperilakuseksual terikat pada kontekssosialbudaya yangakan menjelaskanmasalahdariberbagaibentukperilaku

dan relasi kekuasaan dalamhubungan seksual yangada. Berdasarkon berbagai temuanpenelitian, diketahuibahwauntukpenangananmasalahAIDSmemahami konteks sosialbudayasuatuperilakuseksualberisika tinggisangatdiperlukan.

Introduction

HIV

/AIDS

hasbeeninIndonesiafor 10years.The first case was discovered whentherewasaforeigntourist inthe area of Baliin1987.Since thattime,this

epidemichasreceived much attention from various sectors suchas govern¬

ment,practitioners, researchers, and

evenfrom thelaypeople.The number of AIDS cases is increasing and has been

spreading

to some provinces in Indonesiasince the beginning of the

1990s.The anxiety stemming from this

epidemichasgraduallyinvitedvarious responses, but political commitment didnotofficiallyappearuntil 1994with the passingof PresidentialDecisionNo.

36/1994

which ledtothe formation of

an AIDS-Overcoming Commission from thecentralgovernmentlevelupto the regency level. In line with the Presidential Decision, a national strategy waslaunchedby issuingthe

People-WelfareCoordinator Minister's DecisionNo.

9/1994.

Overaten-yearperiod,the 1998data reveals 706casesconsistingof512HIV

cases and 194 AIDS cases have been

reported, inaddition to 101 cases of

personswhodied.Thegovernmentit¬

self realizes that the AIDS pandemic

will not reachits peak untilthe

21st

century, soefforts of overcoming AIDS

* Naskah asli tulisaninipernahdipresentasikandalamSatellite SymposiumA Fresh Look AtSexualityand HTV/AIDSin Asia and the Pacificdalam TheFourth International CongressonAIDSinAsiaandthePacific, 15-29Oktober1997,PICCManila,Filipina.

** Dra. Anna Marie Wattie, M.A. adalah peneliti Pusat Penelitian Kependudukan, UniversitasGadjahMada danpengajarFakultas Sastra, UniversitasGadjahMada.

will still beneededoveralong period (Abenego,1997).

Thispaper willbeginwithadescrip¬ tionofthedevelopmentofthesexuality study in Indonesia and of the ap¬ pearance ofthe AIDScrisis,which has motivated thedevelopmentof sex re¬

search. The discussion will then focus onsexualityin theIndonesiancontext

ingeneral, followedbysomespecific contexts, which describe how unsafe sexpracticescanbecome fatal.

The Study ofSexuality inIndonesia

Initially, Ihad thoughtthat the lack of data on sexuality was a problem

faced only byscientistsin

developing

countries.Thisviewwasbasedonthe Easternviewthat

people

inthe Westare

open-minded, and that this charac¬

teristic is alsoapparentintheir talk of

sex.So when Ibecame interestedincon¬ ducting a sexuality study —an area

whichuptonowIfeelisanewproblem inthefieldofscienceinIndonesia— and

sought literatureonthistheme,Idis¬ covered that we have longneglected

research on sexualbehavior (Parker, 1995).Consequently,thelack of under¬

standing concerning the complexity

anddiversityofsexualexpressionhas

madeitalmostimpossibleto_respondto the AIDSissue.Veryfeyare awarethat

transmissionof AIDSoccurs mostfre¬

quently through sexual intercourse.* Howcan we study thespread of this

virus if our knowledgeor sexual be¬ haviourisstill limited?

Thenewnessofsexuality studies in

Indonesiadoesnotneedtobediscussed

atlengthbecausemanycountriesthat haveexperiencedcolonization have the

same problem. The situation is thus

likelyduetothehistoricalfactor, which hasmadeabig impactonmanythings, including the development of the

sexuality study itself (Paiva, 1995;

Schoepf,

1995; Tan,1995).Inwhatwas formerlyaDutchcolony, discussionon

sex was likely

stopped

under

Queen

Wilhelmina's authority; during her

reign sexual ethics similar to that

during

the Victorianera wasapplied.In anerawhichupheldthatpuritanismin sexualityisimportant, pietyandholi¬

ness became a standard for sexual

problems,and,asaconsequence,there

was a loss of information regarding

localsexual behaviors (Ong HokHam, 1991).

Itcanbe saidthat thedevelopment

of the field of sexualitystudyinIn¬ donesia hasundergone threeperiods, eachperiodmarkedbydifferentevents. Thefirstisinlinewiththeimplementa¬ tion of the family planningprogram, which initiatedastudyonfertility be¬ havior. Itwasduring thisperiodthat

the challenge of obtaining very per¬ sonal information with regard to spouse interaction emerged. Courage

to do so was usually required when askingquestions about how a _couple wouldpracticebirthcontrol. One alter¬

native mentioned was by not having sexualintercourse orpractisingcoitus

SexualityandHIV/AIDS

interruptus. So the question is still

aboutfertilitybehavior,andnotabout

sexualbehavior.Aresearchonfertility

behavior, however, remainsmeaning¬

ful or significant intracing the early

efforts inthe development of sex re¬

search inIndonesia.*

The next

period

focused on the

studyof sexualbehavior.This emerged

sporadically, eitherinthe form ofa sys-tematic study, which put the importanceonmethodologicalaspects, or intheformofa votepool, whichstill receives criticism because of itsques¬ tionable validity. The similarity of existing researches isthatsexresearch has focused almost exclusively on documenting behavioral frequencies

withinarelatively limited

population

range. Itisnotdoubtedthat theearly

periodofsexresearch inIndonesiawas then affectedbythetraditionofsex

re-search in the West. Theoretical limitation was a consequence of the dominance of group opinion, which tendedtonaturalize human sexual be¬ havior, i.e., to consider that sexual desire iskind of given (Parker, 1995). Methodologically,therewasatenden¬ cytoreducesexualityasaquantifiable

behavior.Thiscanbeseenin research that focused onthe effort to describe datacollectedbyasurveyor votepool m the frequency of given behavior. There was seldom research, which described the sociocultural contextof

sexuality.

Apart from any theoretical or

methodologicallimitations, it can be saidthatperiodwastherisingeraofsex

researchinIndonesia.Thisisbecauseat

that time, many

people

were already

usedto talkingabout sex, so that re¬

searchers got access to either respondents or informants. Unfor¬ tunately, the researcher's and informant's readiness were not balancedby the majority'sreadiness,so that whentheresultofthe researchwas issued, there were many negative

responses

basedonatleasttwothings,

i.e.,methodological responsibility,and the rejection ofthereality of valueand sexual behavior changes. This last reason (the rejection of the reality) reminds us that while sex ispart of

people's

dailylife,it isattractive and oftenbecomesaninterestingtopic for chatting,andit canalso becomea sen¬

sitive

problem.

If there are sexual

behaviors that areconsidered to bea

violation ofnorms,there may beaten¬

dencytocoverupthe reality.

Whether itisadmittedor not,the

assumptions in the researches con¬ ducted on the existence of sexual behavior in somepartsof societywere

duetoWesterninfluences. Thisstudy, therefore, is generally directedto the

youth

group,whichontheonehand,is

sensitivetochanges,and,onthe other hand,carriestheburdenofmaintaining the localsexualitynorms.Inthisperiod, itcanbe said that therehasbeenashift

* Ithankmysuperior,MasriSingarimbunPh.D.,forhis kindhelpinopeningpossibilities

ofaskingabout whatwasformerly considered taboo-sexual behavior and for making the informantfamiliarwithfacingquestionsaboutsexualityandensuring the researcher that

inthe topic andkindof questionswhich concernsensitivematters,withregard

totherespondents'sexualknowledge,

attitude, and practice (KAP).*

The next

phase

is strongly stimu¬ lated byAIDS cases.The reality,which illustrates that

HIV/

AIDS is an

epidemic spreadmostlythroughsexual intercourse, hasevoked

people's

inter¬ estindeterminingwhat strategy can be

applied in transmission prevention.

The description on this phase is dis¬ cussedinthefollowingsection.

TheAIDSCrisisandIncreasing

ResearchonSexual Risk Behavior

Thegrowthof the AIDS crisis has

increasingly stimulated the develop¬ mentofstudies relatedtosexuality.A

learning experiencehasresulted from theepidemic,which hascausedmisery tobothindividuals practicinghigh-risk

behavior and those who face risksas

their partners. In the field of science, thisepidemichasresultedinadeeper understanding of sexuality study throughtheawarenessof the theoreti¬ cal and methodological limitations arisingfrom the conflict between

essen-tialist and constructionistperspectives (Coleman, 1990; Parker, et. al 1991). Though the impact of new under¬

standing on the development of sexuality studyin somecountriesmay

besmall,oneimportant thing that has resulted fromitisthe emergence ofa

bigger

agreementonbeingabletoleam about HIV

/AIDS

transmission inorder topayattention tothecontextof sexual

behavior. It hasbeen established that sexual conduct cannot be separated from the socioculturalsettingof society. This constuctionist concept has

producednewandimportantinsights,

which enable us to analyze how the

epidemicdevelops.

As inother countries, the AIDS

epidemic inIndonesiahas stimulated

sex researchprimarilyconcerned with

issuesrelatedto diseasetransmission,

whereasissuesofsexuality persehave beenlargelyavoided(diMauro,1995).

Some studies that have attempted to relate sexual behavior with

HIV/

AIDS transmission andtovariouspreventive actions seemtobe focusedonhighrisk

groups both because of their sexual orientation and theirwork.Asaresult, these studies strengthen the false opinion that only certain groups of

people areresponsible for the emer¬ gence of theepidemic (Siyaranamual,

1997). The focus on

high-risk

groups

doesnot,infact,contributetoeffortsto gaina

comprehensive

understandingof

transmissionand prevention. Itwill,on

theonehand,encourageconservative

groups to reduce these efforts

(Wan-* A sex study conducted by a junior highschool student,Sulistivo Eko, among her

schoolmatesin1983hada seriousimpactonherasshewasexpelledfrom her school

because the result of herstudy was considered to reflect badly onthe school's and

Yogyanesereputation.Inthe next tenyears,the caseemerged againwhenagroupof

Sexuality

and

HIV/AIDS

dita, 1997) and, ontheotherhand,lead

to greater

neglect

of

low-risk

in¬ dividuals suchaswives

and

children.

Partof thedebate,over

risk

group

andrisk

behaviorapproaches

(seeHart, 1995) concerns the

methodological

obstacle which

emerges

if the

research

oraction isdirectedto

individuals

out¬ sidethe

group.

Moreresearchersrealize

theimportanceofsearching for various

target groups, since sexual risk be¬ havior doesnotonlyoccur tothegroup, which is characterized as highrisks

(sexual workers and homosexuals). However, ashasbeenpreviouslydis¬ cussed, asking questions about sexualityinrelationtothe transmission of venereal disease to individuals or spouses willresult insome

problems.

Thisisbecause of the sensitivity ofthe

theme which will also affeet rapport

(theresearcher's

personal

approach

to

theinformant)andtrust(intercouples),

both ofwhich influencethequality of data. That'swhy mostresearches are stillfocusedoncertaingroups.

The IndonesianContextofSexual Behavior

It is very difficult to discuss sexuality in Indonesia,

especially

be¬

cause thecountryhaslargevariations ofculture.Idonot want tobetrapped

in a situation which

prohibits

re¬

searchers from observing sexual behaviorwithin acertaincontext;i.e.,

the inability to

understand

that sexuality variesbetweensocieties

and

even within a society. Indiscussing sexuality inIndonesia,therefore, itis importanttoconsider how Indonesians

see themselves with respect to other

societies.

Invarious contexts,

including

sexuality,Indonesian

people

tendtosee

themselves

as

people from

the

East.

Eastern culture is

defined

by

charac¬

teristics

such

as kindness,

high

morality,being

cooperative,

and

other positive

behaviors.

Thus,apersonfrom

the

East knowsthat

he/she

musthave good behavior. Westerners, on the

other

hand,are

considered

tohavevery

different

valuesfrom

people

fromthe

East. As a result,it isbelieved that Western behavior norms are not suitablefor peoplefromtheEast. Itis

also very difficult to know what the Easternnormsreallyare.Sowhen one asks what sexuality in the Indonesian

context means, or what is the ideal sexual behavior based on the In¬ donesian culture,it is akin to asking what the real Indonesianculture is.

Sayingthat "weasIndonesianshavean

Easternculture" isnotenough;thatisa failuretoacknowledgethediversity of

the ethics andgroups inIndonesia. As hasbeen

previously

discussed,

sexuality studyisanewstudyanditcan evenbesaid that such

study

has not been formulated inthe social science context inIndonesia (Suryakusuma, 1991).Inlinewith thisproblem,defin¬ ingsexuality studies prior to Islamic andcolonialinfluencesislikelytoresult

in adebate (seeOng HokHam,1991 and Soepangat, 1991). Consequently,

we do not have enough information aboutlocal

knowledge

of sexuality in

Indonesia. Thecomplexity alsoemer¬

ges whenwe seethatsexualityisvery often considered to be the result of Western influenceasfreesex,premari¬

originally come from Indonesia, and

eventhosepracticesare

judged

tohave ruined the noble Eastern sexuality

values.

Goingbacktothe previonsquestion,

i.e., "What are sexuality values?", Oetomo (1991)notesthat homosexual behaviorhad

already

existedinsome

groupsof societyinIndonesia. How¬

ever,itdoesnotalways havethesame meaningasitdoesinmodernWestern

societies.Thesehomosexualstudiesare developed and those among whom homosexual behavior is observed do

not always feel that they are homosexuals or that what they have

donecanbelabelledashomosexual. In the shadow of Victorian sexual

morality,observationsofsuchpractices

are set asidebecause of the different

labelling.

Recently,whenobservations of thispracticesurfacedagain,it was consideredto have resulted from the influenceof Western civilization, and

therefore to say that the roots of homosexualityare inEastern civiliza¬

tionisnotlikelytobeaccepted.So itis

clear thattheproblemisreallyinhow behaviorsarelabelled.

Oneway of gettingadeardescrip¬ tionofideasonsexualityand how these ideasarerealizedinsexualbehavioris by identifyingthe dominant descrip¬ tionsconcerningsexualityinIndonesia. First of all, sex socialization in In¬ donesia is influenced by notions of

masculinityandfemininity,whichcon¬ stituteagendercategory. Withrespect to the sexual relations, there is ine¬ quality because of the naturalist

influence, in which sex is a kind of given. There is a different need and sexual expression associated with

males and females, one

being

ac¬

tive/pleasure-oriented and the other

being

passive/procreative.Second,the placefor the sexualact isinmarriage,so that sexual intercourse that is

heterosexualhasprocreationasitsmain

purpose.Consequently,premaritalsex, promiscuity,and homosexuality are

consideredas normviolations.

However,this is one instance in which the actualbehavior of the society is sometimes so different from the desirednorms(Ortner and Whitehead,

1981).Inthisrespect,how,inwhatcon¬

text, and why there is a difference becomeimportant objectsofstudy.In the AIDS crisis,the answers to those

questionsareveryimportantinorderto

deeply understand sexual risk be¬ havior.

Ingeneral,itcanbestated that inthe first norm, the difference insexual needs and expressions betweenmen andwomenbasedongender ideology

hasareally biginfluenceonthe sexual relations between menand women

both in marriage (with respectto the secondnorm)and outside of marriage,

asshown inthefollowingcases.

ContextualizingSexualRisk BehaviorSomeResearch Findings

During the period 1992-1997 the

Gadjah Mada University, Population

Studies Center, withfundingfrom Ford Foundation,provided opportunitiesto

potentialresearchers from all over In¬ donesia to conduct researches under the Reproductive Health Research AwardProgram.Numerousapplicants expressedtheirinteresttoconduct such researches, but unfortunately many

SexualityandHIV/AIDS

they proposed

werenotrelatedtothe

reproductive

healththeme. Thisis an

indicationthat researchersmIndonesia

already

understooddieneedforasocial

approach

toward

reproductive

health,

which they formerlyknewasthefield

of

physiological

and

biological

studies. Inlinewith this

understanding,

the

researcher'sinterestinthetransmission of sexually transmitted disease and HIV/AIDS,whichconstitutepartof

the

reproductivehealthstudies,hasalsoin¬ creasingly developed. It is not surprising if most of the research proposalsinvolvedthis theme. Of 64

researchesproposed,25 involvedthe

studyofsexual riskbehavior.

From the beginning,thisprogram

aimedtostudy the socioculturalcon¬ textof reproductivehealth,sothatin

relationtoSTDs and

HIV/

AIDStrans¬ mission,young

potential

researchers fromallover Indonesiaaremadeaware of perspective. Some obstacles that have emerged from the researchim¬ plementation are caused by the researchers' limited ability in the

qualitative

approach—

a research

perspectivethat hasnot largelybeen

appliedinIndonesia,evenin thefield

of social sciences. Other obstaclesare

due to limitedtime: a six to twelve¬ month allocation for research is too shorttoachievea

deep

understanding ofsalientissuesthatmustbe takeninto

accountinunderstandinganddevelop¬

ing more effective strategies for

HIV/

AIDS.Itisalso understood thata

researchwhich isconductedwithin a short

period

of time willalsoinvolve

problemsinthe datacollectingmethod

(Tan,1995).

However, inspiteof these limita¬

tions, most researchersconduct their researchesnotmerelyfor

quantifying

sexual behavior but also for under¬

standing

the context of

individuals'

behavior

through ethnographic

obser¬

vation,indepthinterview,focus group

discussion,andlinguistic analysis. Ingeneral,variousresearcheswhich

trytocontextualizesexualriskbehavior (whichhavebecomethemainsourceof this paper) are focused on themes

which may bedividedinto thefollow¬

inggroups:condom use among sex

workers and their clients; unsafe sex among transsexuals; sexualbehaviors

of seamen andinter-citytruck drivers; andritualand risk.

The CondomUse Among Sex Workers andTheirClients

Ashas beenstatedearlier, research onsexworkers ispopularbecause this

group isconsidered to represent the

high-risk group.

Various studies, which focus on

womensexworkers and their clients, have two points incommon. First, economic pressurebecomesthe main reason for their involvement in the

prostitutionpractice.Itconstitutesthe

mostcrucialproblem, andis alsoen¬

countered by many sex workers in

other countries.Povertythus becomes thekeyissueinprostitutionproblems. Second,theeconomicpressureresults

inthe inability of the sex workers to

practicesafesex.Bothsexworkers and

their clients continue to have wrong

perceptions or limited knowledge

avoidcontractingthe virus ordisease

prevention. On the other hand, ade¬

quate

knowledge

about this disease

prevents thesexworkersfrom protect¬ ingthemselvesaswell*

Thoughmassmedia haveexposed newsofthedanger of HTV

/

AIDS,many

membersofsociety still haveincorrect interpretations about this epidemic.

Thereisanopinion that this diseeseisa cursed disease, which affects

homosexuals in the West, this is the

popular belief in the circle of sex

workersandtheirclients. HTV

/

AIDSis also assumedtobeanupperclassdis¬ ease;thelowerclassisonly

susceptible

to

gonorrhoea

orsyphilis.It is further believed thatone candistinguishaper¬ sonwith AIDS fromapersonwithout AIDS through

physical

appearance.

Some physicalcharacteristics such as havingaweakbody,red oryellowhol¬ low eyes,anabnormal wayof walking

and slowhealingwoundsareidentified

asindications thatapersonis infected.

It isdifficult for

people

tounderstand that thebreedingof theHIVvirus inthe

body takes a longtime to get to the terminal condition.

Misconceptions ahout

HIV/

AIDS are closely related to the cases presented to the media, which very often show AIDS patientswhenthey

are neardeath.

Lackofknowledgeleadstoincorrect methods of prevention. So far, sex workers have had

adequate

informa¬

tion about STDtransmission,because

those who live in the communityperi¬ odically receive preventive or curing

injections. However,among their

clients, they practice what are con¬

sideredmoreeffective inpreventingor

curing thedisease, eitherby takingan¬ tibiotics or consuming a mixture of Coca-Cola andcoughsyrup.Therefore,

though they are informed that

HTV/

AIDSisakind of disease thatcan be contracted through sexual inter¬ course, they feel they know how to preventit.

The actionresearch (promotingthe

use of condoms) which is directed

towardsex workers cancertainlyim¬

provethe sex workers' knowledge of

HTV/

AIDS,butitdoesnotensurethat

they will practicesafe sex since their sexual behaviorsare moredetermined

bytheir clients.Clients very often think that using condoms prevents them fromhavingrealcomfort.Theimageof

condomsasaform ofcontraceptiveand theunnaturalsenseof using them dis¬ courages them from using condoms. Sometimes sex workers can force their

clients towearcondomsbuttheseare

limitedto agroupofsexworkers who

aresaidtobeprinuidonnasintheircom¬ munities.**

* Two studies havingthe same object are action researcheswhichhavesucceeded in

transforming sex workers' knowledge on STDS. The two studies are respectively

conductedbyTatang Subarnain thelocalityof SaritemBandungandbyEdySuyanto

(1997) inthetourism areaofBaturaden Purwokerto.

**Once again, my superior MasriSingarimbun deserves the deepest gratitude and

Sexuality andHIV/AIDS

Aresearchon

gigolos

in thetourist

area of Bali shows that tourismhas

promotedgreater interaction among youngmenandforeignwomen.*Inthe

beginning, the localyouth's involve¬

ment was boosted by the need to

interact withforeignwomen togetfree sexallatonce.

They

would boast about

their ability to interact with foreign women,and later it resultedinprofes¬ sional practice.Nowtheyworktoearn money,andmany ofthemwant todate

foreignwomeninordertojoin them in

their travelsandevenbecomesteady

partnersorhusbandswhen thewomen gohometotheirown countries.

It is different with women sex

workers,the socialreason morelikely influences the practice of male sex workers. Consequently,menarealso in

abetterbargaining position. Theycan

choose

toreject clientstheyobserveto have the

physical

characteristics of

STDs or

HIV/

AIDS sufferers. Unfor¬

tunately, theystillhavemisconceptions about the disease,as do their clients.

Most of them refuse to usecondoms becausethey thinktheyhavetheright toavail ofsexservicefromtheinnocent village youth.Theyouths,meanwhile, often

pretend

tobeinnocentas awayof

misleadingtheir clients.

UnsafeSexAmongTranssexual

Individuals

Researchdirected towardsexualbe¬

havioramongtranssexuals shows that their involvement inthesexindustryis

ameanstofindagroup that will

legal¬

ize the homosexual relations they cannotovercome.**Itisinthisfieldthat

atranssexual individualwillfind the

freedomtoexpress"her"sexualorienta¬ tion andalsotoearn"her" money. The sexualactfor thesepeoplealso func¬ tionsas a meansof relievingthem of

stresscausedbythesocialpressurethey experiencebecauseof their differentap¬ pearance.This condition issimilar to

what Vinckeand Bolton(1995) found in theirstudyonthe circle ofgaymen.In thisstudythesexualintercoursetechni¬

ques they perform, namely,oralsex,

analsex,onanism,and squeezing—are

likelytoresult in

HIV/

AIDSinfection. Thelasttechniqueisconsideredsafer in

comparisonwith the others, but since thesexualactisonewaytoexpresstheir "identities," it isdifficult for them to

abstain from the other techniques. Changingtheir sexual behavior isas

difficultastryingtochangetheirsexual

orientation.

realizes thatcondomuse inthe circle ofsexworkerssuffers fromsomeobstaclesamong the clients, inhisexperienceoninterviewingsexworkersheobserved that condomusein thecircle ofsexworkers hadalsoseasons,in thegoodseason sexworkers freelyasked

theirclientstousecondoms butinthefatigueseasonthemostimportantthingforthesex

workerswas tosecureaplateofricetosupporttheirstomachs.

* Thestudywasdoneby Sudarsono(1998) inthetourist areaofUbud,Bali.

SexualBehaviorofSeamenand

Inter-CityTruckDrivers

The kindof job which takes men away from their home region or

countryforalongtime isalso observed to bea commonsituation in which HIV

/

AIDSspreads.Twostudieswhich focusonthewives of seamenandtruck driversprovide

complamentary

infor¬ mationonthis topic.* Thedescriptious

of seamen's wives' perceptions and truck drivers' behavior

provide

in¬ sights into how

HIV/AIDS

transmissionistheresult of

changeable

sexual behavior. This leadsto the in¬ crease in the transmission of AIDS

amongthose whoarenotjudgedtobe ahigh-risk group.

Inthe

study,

it was foundthatmore

than 90percent of truck drivers have hadpre-maritalsex.This sexualinterac¬ tion is performedwith women sex

workers who conduct businessatthe inter-city stopareas.This percentageis

thesame asthose whoaremarried and

engage in extramarital sex with sex

workers. In the truck drivers' group,

there has been a kind of norm that determines that "sex in the street"isa usual thing. The difficulty of the job addedto separation from their wives

during the journey haslargelybecome their reasons why such practices are resorted to. Therefore, the growthof prostitutionareasandtruck drivers' ex¬ tramarital sexualencountersareclearly

related.

As sex service users, their

knowledgeon

HTV/

AIDSissolimited

thattheirprotectionagainstinfectionis minimal.Itisraretohearofcondomuse

amongtruck drivers.

What do thewiveshavetosay about

theirhusbands' sexualbehavior,which presumably results from their jobs, which take from daysto eveninonthe? Trustisthe key word,whichis often

spokenby seamen'swives, asameans

to calm themselves. Itis not because theyhaveneverheardabout the adven¬ turesofseamen,butas aresultof"trust"

they never seriously ask about their husbands'behavior during thework¬

ingperiod.Aninformantfeelsverysure

about herhusband's "cleanness" be¬

causeherhusbandhas said, "Itistrue,I haveafriendontheshipwho likesto haveextramaritalsex,butIdon't."

Ritual and Risk

A sexualpracticethatmay leadto infectionispart of the ritualcalled

sifon.

Sifon

isatraditionalcircumcisionper¬ formedbyanadultmaninsomeethnic

groups of East NusaTenggara. It is

practisedwith theintent ofunitingand balancing any powers of "hot" and "cold"whichareabsolutelyneededto achieveperfectionas aman.This prac¬ tice,whichhas lasted from generation togeneration,needstobediscussedbe¬

cause of the rapid socio-cultural changesinthe societytoday.The ritual involvescircumcising the adult's penis,

* Basedondiestudy done byAnaAdinaPatriani(1998forthcoming)concerning shipmen's wives' perception of their husbands' sexual behavior and by Mundiharno (1998

SexualityandHIV/AIDS

which

consequently

becomeswounded

andswollen. Basedonthenorm,inthis wounded conditionit isamustforthe

mantoperformsexualintercoursewith

a

sifon

woman, a woman who isnot

married. Herpositioninsociety isre¬ lated to the existence of the

sifon

practice itself.

The

danger

—that isthevirus trans¬

mission— starts with the social, economic andcultural

changes

occur¬

ring in the society. It is increasingly

difficulttofinda

sifon

womanwhowill clean the woundedpenisso theman mustseeka.womanwhoiswillingto dothatjob. At the same time,in line with poverty,prostitutioncan conse¬

quentlybecome partofsociety. It isat

thattimethatmenneedtofindaplace

in which he canclean the wounded

penis.

GenderandHIV/AIDS Spread

Various cases described earlier show the actualsexualbehaviors inIn-donesia. They also address the questionsofwhatisEasternsexuality,

andwhatsexualityvaluesareupheldin Indonesia.What thenistherelatiouship betweenthecases orvariousactual be¬ haviors and

HIV/

AIDS?We haveseen

that thesexualbehaviorsof femaleand male sexual workers, clients, transsexuals,and the manwho prac¬

tices the

sifon

expose themselves to possible

HIV/

AIDSinfection.Without condomuse,there isnoguarantee that

they willbe free fromtransmissionof the disease.Specifically,those whoun¬

dergo

sifon

and have to have sexual interaction ina wounded condition, and transsexual individuals whose

practices put them at risk of being

wounded,

subject

them to great pos¬ sibilitiesofbecominginfected.

Moreover, the

possibilities

oftrans¬

missionwillincreasebecauseof the first sexualitynorm,whichisbasedonthe

difference in sex socialization between

menandwomen.Theseeondnorm,the

socio-cultural construction of gender andsexuality,whichplaceswomen ina disadvantaged position,existspersist¬ entlyindaily life.

What canbelearned from the ex¬ amplesaforementionedisthat there is

adifferencein the

bargaining

position

between female sex workers and male

sexworkers,andwiveswho surrender

to their husbands because of trust. Female sex workers experience

economic obstacles whenfacing their

clients, while malesex workers have

morefreedominchoosingtheir clients.

Whileseamen'swivespatientlystayat home, and obediently adhere to the

normwhich requires themnot to be

sexuallyactive,the truckdrivers follow

thenormthatmen aresexuallyactive

and haveextramaritalsex when they areaway from home becauseit iscon¬

sidered to be a common thing. By

analysing

the

sifon

tradition, we can

also obtainaclear

description

of how

normsshiftbasedongender difference

andsex socialization. The ideathat a

good

womanis onewho isnotsexually

activeorwillnot

provide

sexualservice tomanother than her husband makes itdifficulttofinda

sifon

woman.Onthe other hand,manymenpracticethisand thispracticeisjustified bylocalculture. At onceitbecomesaprecise expression

insupportofthenorm,which saysmen

Theunsafesexperformed bysome

individualsinthe settings abovewillat last haveanimpactonthose whoare notdirectlyinvolved inthe interaction,

i.e.,womenand children.Gender lame¬

nessand sex socialization difference

then increase the possibility of

HIV

/

AIDStransmissionthroughsome channels.Themostgravescenario in¬ volvesmen'ssexual risk behavior asa result of women's silence.

Concluding Remarks

The AIDS epidemic has made a greatimpactonsexuality studies.Be¬ causeitisviewedas aglobalcrisis,this

epidemichasalsoawakenedthehuman

spirit,evenifonlyalittle.Onethingthat we cannotforget,however,isthatwe must raceagainst time. For Indonesia, there are still many specific contexts

thatmustbe learnedwith regardtothe

spread

of

HTV/

AIDS. Itcanstartfrom the question of why the statistics of HIV

/AIDS

sufferers inoneprovinceis

greater than that in another. Basedon the geographical and administrative

contexts, we can trace the narrower contexts to gain a

deeper

under¬ standing about how the social construction ofsexual excitement and desire, the ways in which sexual identitiesareformedand transformed, therelationsofpoweranddomination that may shape and structure sexual

interactions,and the

social/sexual

networks that channeland condition theselection of potentialsex partners

aresalient issuesthatmustbetakeninto account in understanding and

developingmoreeffectivestrategiesfor AIDSprevention(Parker,1995).

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