MP urges UI to prioritise victim protection in harassment case
Campus must ensure bias towards victims
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Member of House of Representatives Commission VIII Selly Andriany Gantina has urged Universitas Indonesia (UI) to prioritise the protection of victims in addressing the alleged online sexual harassment case involving students from the university’s Faculty of Law.
“The campus must ensure bias towards the victims, provide safe reporting access, and fully coordinate with law enforcement authorities. Protecting reputation must not sacrifice justice,” Selly stated in Jakarta on Wednesday.
She then expressed her dismay at the alleged harassment carried out by 16 students from Universitas Indonesia’s Faculty of Law (FH UI) against 27 victims online. According to her, the perpetrators, as future legal practitioners, should understand the context and serve as examples as educated individuals.
“I am dismayed to see this; how can future legal practitioners violate the law? Therefore, prove that the state, through its apparatus, acts in the name of justice,” she said.
“Law enforcement authorities must promptly carry out comprehensive, transparent, and accountable investigation and prosecution processes. The significant number of perpetrators in this case indicates potential patterns or systems that must be thoroughly uncovered,” she stated.
The former Acting Regent of Cirebon viewed the incident as demonstrating the evolution of sexual violence, no longer limited to physical spaces but also exploiting technology to demean, exploit, and harm victims. Therefore, she urged Universitas Indonesia, as a higher education institution, not to focus solely on internal handling.
Additionally, she called on the state to ensure the effective implementation of the Sexual Violence Prevention Law (UU TPKS) in digital spaces, including strengthening digital literacy, monitoring technology misuse, and enforcing adaptive laws against electronic-based crime methods.
Selly views the case as a stark warning that sexual violence knows no spatial boundaries. When academic and even digital spaces are no longer safe, she said, the state and all institutions must respond more firmly.
“I emphasise that there is no compromise for perpetrators of sexual violence, in any form or space. The law must be enforced to the maximum, and justice for victims must be the top priority,” she said.