Sexual Violence Victim Services in Indonesia Remain Unequal
Gender-based and sexual violence (GBSV) remains a serious challenge in Indonesia. According to the 2024 National Women’s Life Experience Survey, approximately one in four women aged 15–64 report having experienced physical or sexual violence at some point in their lives.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of these cases are never reported by survivors. Negative social stigma, fear, and limited access to public services often force survivors to suppress their trauma in silence.
“We urge provincial and district governments to immediately establish District Technical Implementation Units for Child and Women Protection (UPTD PPA),” said Franky Tielung, Senior Social Counselling Expert at the Deputy Assistant Unit for Providing Services to Women Victims of Violence at the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (KemenPPPA).
This call is aligned with the issuance of Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 55 of 2024. This regulation places KemenPPPA at the level of strategic coordination to ensure that services for women and children operate uniformly and are integrated throughout Indonesia.
The regulation explicitly governs survivors’ rights to access information, legal services, psychological recovery, health services, and the removal of sexually explicit content.
However, the implementation of these regulations on the ground faces several obstacles. In addition to social stigma that often marginalises survivors, limited service capacity and unequal access across different regions remain major challenges that must be addressed immediately.
“Hospital capacity for violence against women needs to be strengthened because some treatments, such as abortion based on rape indicators for survivors, require good competence and complete medical equipment,” said Dr Imran Pambudi, MPHM, Director of Health Services for Vulnerable Groups at the Ministry of Health.
In the GBSV response system, the health sector plays a strategic role. Healthcare workers are often the first point of contact when survivors muster the courage to seek medical help.
Therefore, the ability to detect signs of violence, provide victim-rights-based initial care, and establish appropriate referral systems is critically important.
Given the number of survivors who remain hesitant and afraid to speak out, the presence of survivor support groups has become essential to bridge this gap.
“The relationship between health service facilities, multiple sectors, and communities also needs to be strengthened, particularly with survivor advocates, as they accompany survivors who may be afraid or reluctant to communicate with healthcare workers,” Dr Imran added.