JPPI Condemns UI Student Harassment: Ironic Incident at Faculty of Law

The Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI) has condemned the alleged sexual harassment within a student chat group at the Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia (UI). National Coordinator of JPPI, Ubaid Matraji, emphasised that the case serves as a loud alarm, describing it as ironic that a suspected legal violation occurred in a place where people study law. “This is not merely irony, but a serious failure in building a safe and integrity-based academic culture,” Ubaid stated in a written release on Tuesday (14/4). Ubaid revealed that based on JPPI’s monitoring from January to March 2026, there were 233 recorded cases of violence in educational environments. “This figure indicates that violence is no longer sporadic incidents, but a systemic phenomenon occurring repeatedly and widespread,” he said. Ubaid detailed that the crimes most frequently occur at the school level, accounting for 71 percent. Even more concerning, the crisis is dominated by sexual violence at 46 percent, with the majority of perpetrators being rogue educators and educational staff from within. JPPI recorded that perpetrators from educators and educational staff make up 30 percent, students 30 percent, adults 24 percent, and others 13 percent. “This data shows a very alarming fact. The biggest perpetrators come from within the education system itself,” Ubaid stated. Ubaid explained that the high number of harassment cases proves the weakness in guaranteeing protection for the rights and dignity of students in learning spaces. “Nearly half of the cases are sexual violence. This signals a serious failure in protecting students from the most basic crimes against the body and human dignity. If combined, the three main types of violence (sexual, physical, and bullying) contribute around 89 percent of all cases,” he revealed. Addressing the increasingly critical situation, Ubaid urged relevant ministries such as the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs to immediately declare a national emergency status. Furthermore, Ubaid said, the government needs to prioritise audits of student protection systems and take firm action against all rogue elements, whether from educators or fellow students, without compromise. Ubaid warned the government not to merely issue formal regulations without real execution of protection and prevention on the ground. “The government should not just make rules and then stay silent. Without serious and systemic steps, violence will continue to recur and damage the future of the young generation. Education must not become a frightening space,” he said. The alleged harassment case stemmed from the circulation of a screenshot from a chat group containing lewd conversations allegedly by FHUI students. In the group, they made insinuations about other female students. From the Instagram account of the UI Faculty of Law (@fakultashukumui), it was stated that the faculty has received reports regarding the chat group. The faculty strongly condemned the action. The students suspected of sexual harassment in the FHUI student chat group apologised directly in front of the victims. The apologies were delivered by the perpetrators at a forum held in the DH UI Auditorium on Monday (13/4) night. UI Rector Heri Hermansyah has affirmed his commitment to combating every case of harassment up to sexual violence on his campus.