No Viral, No Justice: Why Police Often Only Handle Sexual Violence Cases After Social Media Backlash

JAKARTA — Social media has increasingly become an alternative judicial space for survivors of harassment and sexual violence. The phenomenon of case resolution driven by public pressure, termed “no viral, no justice,” has flourished in Indonesia, often preceding the role of formal institutions that should ostensibly provide the safest shelter for victims.

Rather than approaching law enforcement, many survivors choose to publicly share their traumatic experiences and report the violence they have suffered on social media in order to gain protection.

“This is fundamentally an issue of public trust,” stated a speaker at a media roundtable titled “Breaking the Silence, Strengthening Services for Victims of Gender-Based and Sexual Violence,” organised by the IPAS Indonesia Foundation in South Jakarta on Thursday. “If I report, I fear I will be blamed. If I report, I worry I will become the accused.”

According to the 2024 National Survey on Women’s Life Experiences, approximately one in four women aged 15-64 reported experiencing physical or sexual violence at some point in their lives. Regrettably, the vast majority of such cases are never reported by victims. Negative social stigma, fear, and limited access to public services frequently force survivors to bear their trauma in silence.

“Data from the National Survey on Women’s Life Experiences shows that only 11.3 per cent report,” stated Dr Imran.

The reluctance of most survivors to use formal reporting channels is closely linked to the stigma and negative responses they frequently encounter in practice. Victims are often anxious that their reports will not be treated seriously or with a gender-sensitive perspective by authorities. Moreover, there is deep-seated fear that they themselves will be blamed for the violence perpetrated against them.

“This is the challenge we face collectively—to build public confidence that formal services genuinely deserve trust,” explained Dr Imran.

Ferry Wira Padang, Coordinator of the National Secretariat of the Service Provider Forum, stressed that this phenomenon reflects the reality of slow legal processing when cases do not receive widespread public attention or specialised support.