Hearth and Pages: Perbudakan Seksual (Sexual Slavery) by Anna Mariana

“Because of the practice of sexual politics,

they became the target of state officials.

They were stripped naked, gang raped,

and tortured as a form of authorization.”

Perbudakan Seksual: Perbandingan Antara Masa Fasisme Jepang dan Neofasisme Orde Baru (Sexual Slavery: Comparing Japanese Facism and Neo-Facism of New Order) is a book written by Anna Mariana. In this book, Mariana reveal her research of many sexual assault, sexual slavery and sexual abuse that happens in Indonesia during Japanese Occupation in World War II and during New Order regime under Soeharto presidency.

I was debating for good amount of times whether to write the review of this book or not. Not just because the heaviness of the topic but also because it’s a taboo thing to talk about in Indonesia. But then I remember a line from one of the best non-fiction book I’ve ever read:

“Reopening old wounds will be painful, but in the end, the scar will be smaller.”

That line is from And Still Peace Did Not Come by Agnes Fallah Kammara-Ummuna. Both this book and And Still Peace Did Not Come have some certain similarity on the topic of using sexual slavery as a way of oppression. And though there’s no guarantee that talking about this book makes something better, I believe we still need to try. If talking about this book have even 1% chance of preventing those horrible things to happen again, then I would gladly do so.

In this book, Anna Mariana took us on a journey of how two states and their officials using sexual slavery as a form of oppression and also authorization. There are a lot of statements from living survivors of both events. This book is devastating, especially because those horrible things that happened to all these women happened in your country. But what even more devastating is that even after all those years, these women still have no justice given to them.

This book offers a brutal, honest and non-sugar coated look of two of the darkest part of Indonesian history. Both Japanese military and New Order regime use sexual slavery, this book unveil of what the similarity and difference between these two notorious reigns. The survivors’ statements also give us insights of the reality that has been covered by both government and military in such details about the structure and system of both sexual slavery.

This type of book is never easy to read, especially when it’s about your country. And looking at how most Indonesian people choose to avoid the victims’ plea or even refuse to talk about this really hurt my heart. A lot of Indonesian people still won’t acknowledge that this country has some dark history and crimes against humanity. I personally think that we should acknowledge those dark times so that we can move forward and be a better country. That’s why I really recommend every Indonesian to read this book.