Book Review: Annie Pohlman: Women, Sexual Violence and the Indonesian Killings of 1965-66

Abstract

This book provides the first in-depth analysis of sexualised violence perpetrated against female victims during the 1965/1966 massacres. To fully understand the atrocities of these events and their legacy in Indonesia, this book argues that it is essential to focus on gender and sex because many Indonesians are unaware of how broad the range of sexual violence perpetrated against women and girls was following the 1965 coup. As Ibu Lia (a pseudonym) has said, "people must know what happened" during the 1965/1966 period (p. 2). Ibu Lia was one of the main informants who recounted her experience during the mass killings. She was one of the many who survived but suffered greatly from the violence of 1965-1966. (author's abstract)