Sharia-governed Indonesian district bans men & women from dining together

A district of Aceh province, the only area of Indonesia that is governed by Sharia law, has banned single men and women from dining out together in a bid to help women be “more well behaved.”

Single women in the Bireuen district on Sumatra island will be forbidden from sitting unaccompanied with men or co-workers at coffee shops and restaurants.

The directive also imposes a kind of curfew on women, ordering restaurants and cafes to not  serve unaccompanied females after 9pm. This tightens up a 2015 ruling which banned unaccompanied women from remaining at entertainment venues such as cafes and sports halls after 11pm.

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“The objective is to protect women's dignity so they will feel more comfortable, more at ease, more well behaved and will not do anything that violates Sharia (Islamic law),” local head of the local sharia agency Jufliwan told AFP on Wednesday.

“Unmarried males and females who are not close relatives should not eat and drink at the same table, because it is sinful according to Sharia law,” Jufliwan added when speaking to the AP.

Cafe-owners and restaurateurs must also do their part to prevent any public displays of affection between unmarried couples. The notice, previously issued in 2016, was reissued on August 30 with some added guidance which precludes food sellers from hiring LGBT people as waiters.

The semi-autonomous region has previously received international condemnation for flogging people convicted of homosexuality, drinking alcohol and gambling. In 2013, Lhokseumawe city in northern Sumatra ordered women to sit side saddle when riding on motorbikes saying that straddling male drivers was “improper.”

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