Central Java Police Say Sexual Violence Cases in Islamic Boarding Schools Alarming

The Director of Women and Children Protection and Human Trafficking Eradication at the Central Java Regional Police, Senior Commissioner Nunuk Setiyowati, has stated that sexual violence cases within Islamic boarding schools occurring in several areas of Central Java are alarming. She said efforts have been made to minimise such cases. “Not just several cases, even one case we already consider an alarming situation,” Nunuk said when asked for her views on a series of sexual violence cases that have occurred in Central Java in recent months, on Wednesday (1/7/2026). She revealed that from January to June 2026, her directorate handled 198 cases of violence against women and children. Six of these were sexual violence cases within Islamic boarding school environments. “These six cases are spread across Semarang Regency, Wonogiri, Demak, Pekalongan City, and Jepara,” Nunuk said. Specifically regarding sexual violence cases in Islamic boarding schools, Nunuk observed a common modus operandi. “Usually there is a doctrine, that you must obey what the teaching staff, founder, or caregiver at the Islamic boarding school says. So this doctrine is always delivered repeatedly, so that if there is a special request or order, the victim follows it,” she said. According to Nunuk, female students who become victims of sexual violence by their caregivers are often afraid to speak out or report it. The factors of doctrine and power relations play a role in creating this fear. Nunuk said the victims’ reluctance to report is the main obstacle in investigating sexual violence cases in Islamic boarding schools. “So we have to convince them that the victim will be given protection, because it is possible there will be intervention later, requests not to report, and so on,” Nunuk explained when asked what approach the police take when encountering suspected victims of sexual violence in Islamic boarding schools to encourage them to report.