Sexual Violence in Pati, JPPI: How Many More Victims Must We Wait For?

National Coordinator of the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI), Ubaid Matraji, stated that the government must stop waiting for more victims before overhauling the system to prevent sexual violence in educational environments. This comment relates to a case of sexual violence at a pesantren in Pati, Central Java. “How many more cases and victims must we wait for before the government improves the prevention system against sexual violence,” he told Kompas.com on Wednesday (6/5/2026). Ubaid said that the Pati incident should prompt the government to act swiftly in repairing the prevention and mitigation systems for violence in educational settings. JPPI recorded that in the first quarter of 2026, violence in educational institutions under the Ministry of Religious Affairs reached 12%. Nine percent occurred in pesantrens, and the rest in madrasah environments. “The highest number of violence cases occurred in schools at 71%, followed by higher education at 11%, and non-formal educational institutions at 6%,” he explained. Previously reported, the alleged molestation case against dozens of female students at a pesantren in Pati Regency has progressed to the investigation stage. Police stated they have gathered sufficient preliminary evidence after examining witnesses and processing the crime scene. This case was actually reported since 2024, while the molestation of the victims is suspected to have occurred since 2020. However, police claimed that the handling process after the 2024 report was delayed due to attempts at family-based settlements by the victims’ side.