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Students, lecturers laud campus sexual violence decree
The regulation stipulates that higher education institutions across the country are obliged to have a clear mechanism, including a special task force, on addressing allegations of sexual violence.
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tudents and lecturers have lauded the promulgation of a ministerial regulation that will serve as a guideline for universities in preventing and handling cases of sexual violence, calling it a “big step” to make campuses safer for everyone.
The regulation, signed by Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim on Aug. 31 but made public only last week, stipulates that higher education institutions across the country are obliged to have a clear mechanism, including a special task force, on addressing allegations of sexual violence.
“This is a big step in the fight to eradicate sexual violence on campuses, as well as for the cause in general. This is the only legal tool from the victim's perspective. I really do hope that after this, we can immediately pass the sexual violence eradication bill [RUU PKS],” said Charlenne Kayla, a student at National Multimedia University (UMN).
Sexist jokes and catcalling
The regulation has provided a wider definition of sexual violence. It defines sexual violence as verbal, non-physical and physical sexual assault, as well as assault through information and communication technology. Punishable actions include sexually charged jokes, catcalls, whistles and leering.
These behaviors are frequently overlooked in the spectrum of sexual misconduct or normalized as jokes or compliments.
The regulation stipulates that perpetrators of sexual violence in universities must face administrative punishments that are further categorized as mild, moderate and heavy. Mild punishment, for example, can take the form of a written reprimand or a written apology from the perpetrator that is published on the school's internal communications network and in mass media.
Moderate punishments include suspension, the stripping of certain student/faculty benefits and in the case of a scholarship student, the withdrawal of their scholarship.
The heaviest form of punishment is dismissal or expulsion.
Hope and reservations
Charlenne, who took part in carrying out an investigative report on sexual violence on her campus last June, said the new regulation would give those advocating for the rights of sexual violence victims greater bargaining power in pressing universities to eradicate sexual violence on campus.
She cited the fact that many times campus officials had rejected requests to create a special task force to handle sexual violence cases because there was no governmental order to do so.
“[The ministry] should do periodical monitoring to make sure that campuses really implement the regulation and back up our mission to eradicate sexual violence in universities so that we know that we are not alone,” she said.
Charlenne and her team of student journalists said campus officials who were not pleased with their investigative reports demanded that their articles be taken down. However, after a series of intense discussions, they succeeded in urging officials to take small steps in making their campus a safer place.
“The campus gave a webinar on sexual violence during freshmen orientation. It also published a set of standard operating procedures to tackle sexual violence on campus; though sadly, is not perfect and still lacks the victim’s perspective,” she said.
Meanwhile, a lecturer at Bengkulu University, Alia Azmi, urged the ministry to supervise campuses if it really wanted to eradicate sexual violence in higher education.
“It will be hard work [to enforce the regulation] because we have to change the mindset of some people [...] who believe that holding on to moral values alone can prevent sexual violence,” Alia said.
To implement the decree well, campuses not only have to create a task force but also hold educational workshops on sexual violence prevention for all members of the school community.
“Also, if the task force consists of campus officials only, it may not be independent; it would be prone to conflicts of interest,” she said.
‘Great sin’ in education system
Nadiem, the only millennial minister in the Cabinet, promised to issue the regulation after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo assigned him to manage Indonesia's higher education in addition to his responsibilities as education and culture minister, who was traditionally tasked with overseeing primary education.
He said sexual violence on campus is one of the three “great sins” in the national educational system that he wanted to abolish, with the other two being intolerance and bullying. In February this year, Nadiem initiated the issuance of a joint ministerial decree banning public schools from making hijabs mandatory for non-Muslim students.
“Please wait for it [the decree mitigating sexual violence in higher education]; it may not be perfect but we are trying our best,” Nadiem said as quoted by kompas.com on April 24.
Campaigns for safer campuses for women intensified after a series of news reports highlighted the failure of university leaders to address cases of sexual violence. In 2019, a sexual violence case against Agni (not her real name) gained massive attention after national news media picked up an investigative article from Yogyakarta’s Universitas Gajah Mada (UGM) student press reporting the 2017 case.
The case inspired several media organizations, including The Jakarta Post, to collaborate to expose the endemic problem of sexual violence in higher education.
A 2019 survey on sexual assault in public places issued by Safe Public Space Coalition shows that schools and campuses (15 percent) are the third most common place where sexual violence occurs, after public transportations (19 percent) and the street (33 percent). (ahw)
