This is a great story that defies stereotypes; Julia Perez is a sex symbol in Indonesia, a primarily Muslim country (86%) who is currently running for deputy district head in Pacitan, the province Indonesia’s president comes from — with a big focus on sexual health, women’s rights, sex ed for teens and is targeting corruption in politics. Go Jupe! Snip:
Julia Perez is a sultry, hip-swiveling celebrity in a country where her cleavage draws ire from Islamic hardliners and a conservative broadcast commission recently censured a public television station for airing a program of her in a skimpy skirt.
But it’s not just the way Perez dresses that provokes controversy. The 29-year-old actress and performer, popularly known as Jupe, also works as a condom rep for DKT, one of Indonesia’s largest condom distributors, and helps educate women and teenagers about the need for safe sex.She says parents in Indonesia don’t talk to their children about sex because many consider it taboo. Indonesia is home to the world’s largest — largely moderate — Muslim population, but Perez says people with deeply held religious beliefs still see sex as sinful. “People think, ‘Oh it’s really nasty, I’m not going to talk about that.’”
The problem when a subject becomes off limits, she says, is that it increases people’s curiosity. Perez believes it’s the government’s responsibility to educate children in school about sex and the proper way to protect themselves from disease. She works closely with the Indonesian AIDS Commission, which helps streamline the government’s health policies. But the country’s conservative-minded education minister has said sex has no place in school. (…read more, cnngo.com; thanks sweet A)
