Gender & Sexual Health in Four Countries in Southeast Asia

With support from the Ford Foundation

This Gender and Sexual Health in Southeast Asia project aims to compile and review evidence of a variety of sexual behaviours thought to have important implications for male and female reproductive health in Indonesia and provide the opportunity for comparison with the situation in Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines. These behaviours include use of herbal and medicinal preparations to influence sexual relations, genital cutting (circumcision) of males and females, penis modifications (implants, adornments, injections), and the use of various sexual stimulants and astringents (eg. Tongkat putih in Indonesia). Analysis of the social context and cultural content of these behaviours is guided by questions about current and potential gender relationships and their impact on reproductive health.

The behaviours addressed here are of very different levels of social acceptability, frequency, and medical consequences. Male circumcision is virtually universal in Indonesia and the Philippines, but varies according to age of boy, style and riskiness of procedure. Penis implants appear to be minority behaviours, concentrated among lower class, and sometimes criminal groups of men, and seldom involving formal medical intervention or assistance. Use of preparations for sexual enhancement is widespread, but of unknown efficacy and safety. Practices related to 'dry' sex are common in Indonesia, though of uncertain motivation and impact, and they have also been found to be common in Thailand. All of these behaviours are related to traditional practices going back centuries but in their modern manifestations they involve changes in the technologies used and the motivations underlying the actions.

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