On September 30, 2026, Willy Aditya, chair of Commission XIII of Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR), proposed two things while visiting the Class IIA Women's Prison in Bandung: conjugal "family rooms" (bilik asmara) for married inmates, and sexual aids (alat bantu seks) for unmarried inmates who need them. "One, a love room for those who are married. Two, aids for those who need them," he said, in remarks published on the prison's official YouTube channel and reported by CNN Indonesia. He said the commission had already "initiated" the family-room idea at several prisons and asked regional corrections offices and prison heads to oversee it. His argument was about reintegration: "Remember, our concept of corrections is reintegration… We treat this as a halfway house."

Why It Matters

It is very unusual for a senior lawmaker in the world's largest Muslim-majority country to put sex toys into a formal policy discussion, here as a matter of inmate welfare and sexual health. The fast fatwa-commission response shows the limits that framing will hit. For the pleasure-products industry, the story is a reminder that in much of Southeast Asia the category's legitimacy is still contested at the level of religious authority, not just consumer regulation. That affects market entry, e-commerce listings and marketing language well beyond prisons. Women inmates' sexual and reproductive health, which was the stated subject of the Bandung visit, is a real policy gap, and the conjugal-visit rules now being drafted are the most likely concrete outcome. A government-procured supply of sex aids looks unlikely after the clerical pushback. If one happens anyway, it would be a precedent worth watching.

On October 2, the head of the Bandung women's prison, Rika Aprianti, told Merdeka that the goal is to keep inmates' family ties intact and to prevent what she called sexual deviance. She cited the Netherlands and Vietnam as countries that already provide such facilities under formal eligibility rules. She also confirmed that implementing regulations on family-visit leave (cuti dikunjungi keluarga) are being drafted, which makes this more than a remark made during a site visit.

The religious response came on October 4. KH Abdul Muiz Ali, deputy secretary of the Fatwa Commission of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), said that using sex toys to satisfy biological urges is haram (forbidden) under Islamic law. "Channeling biological desire through sexual aids or sex toys is a prohibited act. It is haram," he told MUI's official outlet, as quoted by CNN Indonesia and Katadata. He offered marriage or, failing that, fasting as the permissible alternatives. He also criticized a sitting legislator for raising the subject in public and asked Willy to withdraw the statement. The debate is not one-sided among religious figures. On October 5, Nahdlatul Ulama figure Gus Ubaidillah Amin told Beritajatim he supports facilities that meet inmates' biological needs, arguing they could prevent adultery (zina) and other riskier behavior. That puts him at odds with the MUI fatwa commission, although he spoke about facilities in general rather than sex toys specifically.

Sources

Update — 2026-10-05

Initial entry — story first created.