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fter a sexual abuse case at University of Indonesia’s (UI) School of Law emerged in 2008, several lecturers at the school, mostly women, realized the campus needed stronger legal mechanisms to protect their students and colleagues from predators.

The reported lecturer was dismissed for good as an academic at the state university, while other lecturers who helped the victims, decided in 2011 to establish a legal clinic dedicated to women and children.

But not all campuses realize that one report of abuse does not mean it was only a one-off. “One reported case means there are many more that go unreported,” Lidwina Inge Nurtjahjo, head of the women and children law clinic, told The Jakarta Post. “The system actually allows such things to happen again and again.”

When the School of Social and Political Sciences at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) was shaken by a similar report, the faculty investigated and punished the guilty staff member, a lecturer, by banning him from teaching and thesis consultation.

Sources, who requested anonymity, from UGM also said the case made them recognize they did not have the mechanisms in place to respond to such cases.

They struggled to find articles and ethical guidelines on how to implement an investigation and punishment. After researching for an appropriate procedure, they realized UGM actually had ethics guidelines. One article stipulated that lecturers must avoid relationships with students that would create conflict of interests.

Such an outcome has been considered a quantum leap, given past victims were just brushed off and silenced. And in the eyes of many in a masculine-dominated society, punishment is over the top. “Don’t punish him too much, he’s an asset to the university,” others said. “Why was he punished while past perpetrators were not?” some questioned.

Indiah Wahyu Andari from the Rifka Annisa Women’s Crisis Center said in the past they received reports of harassment and abuse from lecturers against students. “They usually don’t get much help from campuses,” she said.

Saras Dewi of UI’s School of Humanities lauded the response of UI’s School of Law to its cases with the establishment of their clinic dedicated to sexual abuse victims.

“Campuses must have the facilities to deal with abuse cases, the lecturers must have a gender perspective, and the campus bureaucrats need to be sensitive to victims,” she said.