Government Faces Major Task in Eradicating Sexual Harassment in Higher Education

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The case of sexual harassment by 16 University of Indonesia (UI) students that emerged this week indicates that the government still has a major task in eradicating similar cases at the higher education level. This is compounded by the case of the Orkes Semi Dangdut (OSD) performance by the Mining Students Association at the Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), which featured lyrics degrading women. Looking back, sexual harassment cases in higher education continue to recur. National Coordinator of the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI) Ubaid Matraji assesses that there are several backgrounds as to why sexual violence cases keep repeating. This involves power relations that potentially cause impunity in law enforcement and imperfect resolve from higher education institutions. Based on JPPI’s monitoring in the first quarter of 2026, 233 cases of violence were recorded in educational environments. Violence cases occurred in several places, including schools (71%), higher education (11%), pesantren (9%), non-formal education units (6%), and madrasahs (3%). Based on the perpetrators’ identities, they were educators and education staff (33%), students (30%), adults (24%), and others (13%). Therefore, the government has a major task to dismantle that impunity. “The government has homework to tear down the wall of impunity on campus,” said Ubaid to Kompas.com on Wednesday (15/6/2026). Functional positions such as lecturers and professors are considered sacred and blameless. “There is a power relation in that. There is systemic fear that punishing a senior colleague will disrupt internal stability or power networks on campus,” he explained. He stated that campuses tend to try to resolve sexual violence cases in a “familial” manner or through closed internal mechanisms to preserve the alma mater’s reputation. He does not deny that the familial approach is often taken to protect the perpetrator. The familial route ensures the perpetrator has no criminal record, so the Police Clearance Certificate (SKCK) remains clean. “Usually, victims are pressured to forgive in exchange for academic smoothness or financial aid, even though this is a form of subtle intimidation,” Ubaid revealed. “The public now values campuses that are transparent and side with victims more than campuses that appear ‘clean’ but hide carcasses within,” said Ubaid. Ubaid reminds that Law Number 12 of 2022 on Sexual Violence Crimes (TPKS) should be used to handle such harassment cases after its enactment took a long time. However, the law cannot work alone. This regulation is a legal instrument that will only become a pile of paper if there is no will from campuses to eradicate harassing behaviour.