“They’ll know later when the effects are felt, if the police come down and start arresting people and force people to stop wearing penis gourds,” Sorabut said.
“The potential for conflict is big,” he said.
The central question is whether police will try to enforce the anti-porn law. Indonesia has no shortage of grand-sounding laws that go unenforced due to political compromise, inertia or corruption.
Abdul Azis, the head of police in the highland region, known as Jayawijaya, said he was still weighing up whether or not to enforce the law given local sensitivities.
“We don’t know yet, we have to look at the conditions first. Up to now there are pros and cons for enforcing it,” Azis said.
“I don’t think it’s likely because the people here are still primitive. They don’t see it as pornography, but as their clothing,” he said.
Opposition lawmaker Eva Sundari, who voted against the law in parliament, said it could have its greatest impact outside of Papua in areas where Muslims predominate.
With its much-criticized clause allowing civilian groups to enforce public decency, its real purpose was to allow Islamic hardliners to act as “moral police,” she said.
“The goal of this law is to become a legal umbrella for groups pushing for Sharia [Islamic law],” she said.
But however it is enforced, many say the law has already damaged inter-communal bonds that have held together a diverse country that spans thousands of islands.
“The law has already wrecked the feeling of togetherness,” Sundari said.
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