Last week, provided two more ridiculous examples of the censorship standards used by Indonesian TV stations and the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI). In the same week that KPI found that a sermon on a religious TV program called “Islam Itu Indah” about heavenly “sex parties” did not explicitly break any of their regulations (though they issued a warning after public outcry), a medical program on the same TV station, involving a serious discussion relating to the female anatomy, was found to have its educational illustrations blurred out.
The photo went viral throughout the Indonesian interwebs, with netizen declaring it another example of the country’s increasingly conservative values preventing citizens from receiving essential sexual health information.
https://twitter.com/RagilSempronk/status/887692204801638400
It looks like Twitter user @RagilSempronk might have been the first to share the screengrab, along with the comment, “Describing cervical cancer but the part affected by cancer is blurred, who is this stupid? Dear God, heal this broken country.”
The photo quickly spread from there, getting picked up by the Indonesia Feminis Facebook page and eventually major media like Tribunnews (which reported on the photo’s virality but did not mention its origin).
https://www.facebook.com/indonesiafeminis/posts/1953041241630424
https://www.facebook.com/tribunnews/posts/10155554567314962
We searched for the original source of the screengrab and have verified that it is authentic and taken from an episode of the medical TV talk show Dr. Oz Indonesia, which originally aired on Trans TV in February 2016 (you can see the blurred out illustrations at about the 5:50 mark).
However, the episode in question was actually not about cervix cancer but female circumcision (defined by the World Health Organization in all cases as female genital mutilation (FGM)) which is still widely practiced in Indonesia.
https://www.facebook.com/Coconuts/posts/1390200134377285
The episode discusses the practice and the question of its necessity. The segment’s guest expert, an obstetrician named Dr. Boy Abidin, clearly states that there is no medical need or justification for FGM and discusses the various types of FGM using the illustrations – which were censored for broadcast.
From what we know about FGM in Indonesia, it seems like the program was trying to give clear, scientific and medically-sound information about the taboo subject in a responsible manner. It includes warnings about the potentially severe health risks FGM can pose.
However, the station’s decision to blur out the anatomical illustrations clearly undercuts the educational value of the program as well as perpetuates the taboos surrounding discussions of female reproductive health that the program was attempting to break down.
Although the topic was not about cervical cancer, it very well could have been. In the wake of dangdut legend Julia Perez’s tragic death earlier this year, many have written about the ways that the country’s sexual taboos are preventing women from getting life-saving medical care, such as pap smears.
https://www.facebook.com/Coconuts/posts/1471597262904238
The censoring of Dr. Oz Indonesia is hardly an isolated incident either. In an excellent article on the Magdalene about how conservative values are preventing teenagers from getting proper sexual health medical care and education, a director at the Ministry of Health’s Family Health unit notes they created an informational book on reproductive health for young people years ago, but it was blocked by the Ministry of Education who objected to the “pornographic” anatomy illustrations.
https://twitter.com/stephtangk/status/888592130851184641
We like to joke about the often ridiculous nature of Indonesian censorship standards, especially when it comes to things like blurring out cleavage on robots or children’s cartoon characters. But when it comes to providing sexual health education, which can have a huge impact on people’s well-being, it’s not very funny. The censors need to grow up.
