Despite the rapid growth of the local gaming industry, female gamers encounter problems that their male counterparts do not.

As Indonesia’s esports sector continues to develop with more professional teams, serious competitions and corporate sponsorship, its female participants – both amateur and professional players – continue to be targeted and harassed by fellow players and fans.

Asia Sports Tech counts about 100 million female gamers in South East Asia, including in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.

Debora Imanuella, founder of Luna Nera said that sexism against female gamers has its seed in the societal stigma regarding the roles women have to play in life.

“No matter what we do, they often sexualize female gamers because there’s an unconscious bias about what women and men should play or do,” Debora said.

An infographic by Luna Nera, one of the few local esports communities exclusively made up of female players, shows that out of 150 survey participants, 72.5 percent of female gamers in their community, ranging from 19 to 24 years old, have experienced online harassment. Female gamers are also often subjected to online harassment. Comments such as  “It’s better to sell yourself instead of playing games” and other similarly demeaning comments often appear on the live chat boxes that players use to communicate with fans when they stream their gaming sessions.

Indonesia’s female esports community is a growing scene. But the players surely deserve more attention for their achievements rather than their looks. There are many talented teams, like Evos Galaxy Ladies who won the Point Blank International Women’s Championship (PBIWC) 2019, Alter Ego Celeste who won the FSL Valorant Open 2021.

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