Thesis abstract:

«p»This doctoral research aims to develop a poststructural account on the governing of adolescent girls’ sexuality in Indonesia, in the context of increasing media-mediated discourses on sexual violence against adolescent girls. The recent media phenomenon has arguably increased the momentum of anti-sexual-violence activism among civil society, legislators, bureaucrats, and the community. Attentions toward ‘adolescence-girlhood’ in discussing sexual violence ostensibly led to ‘progressive’ anti-sexual-violence policy reforms and subsequent sprouts of social change at the national level. However, these reforms and governing changes have not been smoothly implemented in the local political landscape. It may be contributed by diverse knowledges governing adolescent girls' sexuality in the Indonesian postcolonial context. This research will open up such notion by examining the plurality and change of how sexual violence against adolescent girls is represented. Poststructural theories and methods will be employed to analyse knowledges from policy and governmental documents as well as civil society and community actors related to anti-sexual-violence policy development at the national level and policy (dis)implementation at the local governance level. The research questions are: 1) How do national and local government and civil society in Indonesia ‘make’ and ‘unmake’ sexual violence against adolescent girls through activism and policies? and 2) How do knowledges governing adolescent girls’ sexuality emerge, gain dominance, be contested, and be subjugated in the context of coloniality of power? “What's the Problem Represented to be?” (WPR) poststructural policy analysis and the Poststructural Interview Analysis (PIA) (Bacchi & Goodwin, 2016) will be employed to answer both research questions. This research results will reflect what is (possible to be) said or to be written or to be thought regarding sexual violence against adolescent girls, and ultimately, adolescent girls’ sexuality in Indonesia«/p»