Why did I find this topic amusing? Well, to give you a little update, it is currently quite an issue in Germany where a brother and a sister were intimately in love and ultimately develop sexual relationship. They were doing it with the full consent of each other and as a result they had four children. Unfortunately under German Law, incest is illegal and punishable by law. The brother was convicted to two year jail and is appealing for the sentence. The lawyer adamantly defended his client, stating that the law was quite old-fashioned (dates back to 1871) and a form of intrusion to the private lives of its citizens. Basically it was love (and sex) between fully consenting adults and they were not harming anyone, argued the incestuous siblings. You can read the story from BBC here.
As far as I know, we have many cases like that in Indonesia. I heard of incest cases between (fully consenting) father and daughter, or brother and sister. But I heard no legal proceeding of these cases, other than cultural reprimands (correct me if I’m wrong). In one of the cases in Kalimantan, the brother was simply asked to leave the village for good by the elders. The sister followed him and they continued their story somewhere else.
How bizarre it is if we insist that fully consenting adults are free to commit sexual relationship. If we legalize incest, consequently we will have to legalize their marriage too. How and where do we get this rule and sense, that love relationship between consenting adults are naturally harmless?
No, I am not talking about the incest only, since I am trying to draw much bigger conclusion. It is such a sacred mantra by all modern-progressive-liberal citizens that consensual sex in inherently safe, since they are accepting any harms or consequences that may arise willingly. Thus we have this romanticized version of love (or lust?), especially physical intimacy prior to marriage. Sure, consensual sex is a way different to rape, which is a horrible physical torment and severe humiliation of the victims. But it does not mean it is harmless, in a sense that it will create an addiction and physical bond that we should never have in the first place. No wonder, our Almighty God only bless sexual relationship between a man and a woman under marriage bond.
And of His signs is that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you might reside with them, and has put kindness and mercy between you. Surely, there are signs in this for those who think. [Ar Ruum (30):21]
(Comment: the whole passage of 30:17 – 27 is about the signs of Him, so captivating and magnificent, such that in this very moment it takes my breath away).
So guys and girls, stay away from extra marital sex, even though it is quite tempting to do so. Call this your sacred principle, and then you shall find the enlightenment in the end of the day 
.
Consensual sex is increasing in Bangladesh; it would become vulnerable of HIV/AIDS.
Mohammad Khairul Alam
Executive Director
Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation
24/3 M. C. Roy Lane
Dhaka-1211, Bangladesh
rainbowngo@email.com
Tel: 880-2-8628908
Mobile: 01711344997
HIV/AIDS constitute a significant public health threat around the world. By the end of 2006, about 39.5 million people worldwide were living with HIV/AIDS, unfortunately 90% of them in developing countries. During 2006 alone, a total of 4.3 million adults and children were found to be newly infected with HIV, and in the same year, 2.9 million people died from HIV/AIDS – 80% of them Africans. In two decades, AIDS has killed almost 30 million people and orphaned over 14 million children.
HIV/AIDS epidemic spreads out depend on several social custom or norm prejudicial practice, such as gender discrimination, sexual violence, early marriage, trafficking, unsafe sex or exploitation of sex workers, transmission of other STDs, intravenous/injection drug uses. Socio-economic position and illiteracy also can makes vulnerable for HIV/AIDS.
An increase in affluence also has resulted in a rise in the number of men who visit commercial sex workers. HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh, therefore depends on the conditions in the commercial sex industry, including the frequency of the incidents of men visiting commercial sex workers. While, everyone buying sex in Bangladesh is having unprotected sex some of the time, and a large majority don’t use condoms regularly. The fourth national surveillance also found a high prevalence of syphilis among female sex workers. The same floating sex workers in central Bangladesh who had a 0.5 percent prevalence of HIV, for example, had a 42.7 percent prevalence of syphilis.
Bangladesh is still considered as a low HIV/AIDS prevalent country; by the way Bangladesh is passing at a critical moment, the majority of AIDS cases in here are the result of needle sharing. Of 500 injection drug users questioned in central Bangladesh during the fourth national surveillance, 93.4 percent said they had shared needles in last week. Providing clean needles is also considered important because it decreases the spread of HIV from injection drug-users. It is also important to bring a behavioural change among commercial sex workers (CSWs) by promoting the use of condom.
After several investigate on sex industries have identified more then 1,00,000 various category commercial and non-commercial sex workers in Bangladesh who are most of them illiterate. Some female brothel sex workers have an average of 20-25 clients per week, Female hotel sex worker meet an average of 44 clients in a week, the highest number of clients in commercial sex than any other counties in South-East Asian region. Moreover the residence sex workers and floating sex workers are present in large number though the precise distribution and prevalence is still unknown. By a study ‘Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation’ also found that a substantial proportion of some young and single textile, garment workers, tea garden female workers, house key-per supplement their low wages by occasional prostitution. Consensual sex or non-commercial sex exists in rural societies, particularly when husbands are absent for a long time.
Sex before marriage, or sex after marriage without spouse, is still taboo for most people in our society. Most would also prefer their partners to be virgins. Sex has become much more accepted in our society today. The fact that sex has become very common among adolescents today is irrefutable.
Sex is consent is more common in the upper classes and the poorer classes of society; it seems they have both social and religious approval to engage in consensual sex and can have it anywhere. Some private sector, high official persons are engaged consensual sex with their subordinate female colleagues. It happens to avoid official harassment or money or any other material compensation is involved. Lower female workers like as garment workers sometimes has a boyfriend for the sake of protection from harassment by other men. Some low wages female workers engage to consensual sex to fulfill their families’ burden.
Women in Bangladesh are largely getting sexual experience through marriage and for the most part, sex is consent is mostly confined to their future husband or lovers. “Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation” found, sexual behaviour among Bangladeshi women is changing. Young girls may not remain in the traditional sexual confinement of the previous generations and consensual sex among them is on the rise. It may encourage AIDS to acquire alarming proportions in Bangladesh.
Media, jobs security and natural devastation always play a vital role to change human behaviour. This social change would happen gradually or rapidly. By the way, the cause of changing of human behaviour in our society is to the mixed effect of urbanization and modernization has brought frustration in the man. For these two things people are forgetting traditional social norms, family sexual behaviour is changing, attitude of peoples towards sex is changing very fast. Besides migration for jobs, an increasing number of women taking up jobs outside the home, a decline in the traditional joint family system, and conflict to global culture were considered to have contributed to this phenomenon.
References: Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation, World Bank