Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence in the University Environment
Today, if we talk about sexual violence, it is no longer a taboo subject because we can find news of sexual violence easily in any media, e.g. television, internet, and also print media. As quoted from kemdikbud.go.id, sexual violence is any act of humiliating, insulting, harassing, and/or attacking a person’s body, and/or reproductive function, due to an imbalance of power and/or gender relations, which results in or can result in psychological suffering and/ or physical, including those that interfere with a person’s reproductive health and lose the opportunity to carry out education safely and optimally.
This type of sexual violence varies from verbal, non-physical, physical, and online or through information and communication technology. Perpetrators and victims also vary and regardless of age.
Then, how is the prevention and handling of sexual violence that has been carried out at the Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta (UMS) ?
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) has released Permendikbudristek No.30 of 2021 concerning the Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence in Higher Education Environments or PPKS Regulations. This step is a serious commitment from the Ministry of Education and Culture in efforts to prevent and deal with sexual violence in Indonesian educational environment to ensure the fulfillment of the basic right to education for all citizens. Even though it has reaped a lot of controversy because of the inappropriate choice of diction, the actual intent of the article is good.
Dr. Rizka, S.Ag, MH, a lecturer at the Faculty of Law of UMS said, “Actually it’s only a matter of interpretation and language that needs to be revised in the Regulation of the Minister of Education and Culture. The goal is good, that is to protect students from sexual harassment and violence, so that the perpetrators can be prosecuted. But the problem is there are dictions that are considered inappropriate, it needs to be corrected and revised so that it is accepted by the community. Regulations also have to be firm with language that doesn’t have multiple interpretations,” explained Dr. Rizka.
Dr. Muchamad Iksan, SH, MH, who is also a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, also stated the same thing. According to him, there are several things that need to be considered, including:
- The drafting process should involve wider public participation, especially the campus world;
- Wherever sexual violence is committed, it is already regulated in the Criminal Code, it’s just the law enforcement that needs to be improved;
- Related to acts that fall under the realm of “sexual violence” in the regulation are not the same as or broaden from the formulation of the offense of sexual violence (rape) or obscene acts in the Criminal Code. That means there is an expansion of offenses (criminalization) that are not the realm of ministerial regulations but should be at the level of law;
- The procedures for preventing/handling violence in universities (Higher Education) as regulated in the Permendikbud are very procedural, complicated, and burdensome for the management of universities, especially for small universities.
Regarding the Permendikbud, UMS actually already has its own regulations and a disciplinary team which are Student Disciplinary Team and the Lecturer/Employee Disciplinary Team whose job is to examine violations of the UMS Student Rules and Employee Regulations. These regulations can be checked via the website https://kemahasiswaan.ums.ac.id/download/tata-tertib-mahasiswa/
“At UMS itself, before there was a Permendikbud, it already had its own ethics commission. So if there is a report, it will definitely be followed up. For students, if there is behavior from lecturers/trainees at UMS, don’t hesitate to report it, because if there is no report, of course it cannot be followed up,” added Mrs. Rizka.
However, the LPM Campus team has conducted research on UMS students regarding their knowledge of Permendikbud No. 30 of 2021 and the Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence in the UMS Environment.
In this research, there were 77 respondents from various faculties and generations. At most 55 respondents stated that they knew about the Permendikbud through social media, the rest they found out through the mass media, universities, communities/organizations, friends etc. Then, as many as 59 respondents said they agreed with the Permendikbud, 4 respondents disagreed, and the rest chose neutral.
They who agree on average have reasons that this Permendikbud No. 30 of 2021 can be the first step towards creating a learning environment that is safe and free from all forms of sexual violence. In addition, there are many victims of sexual harassment who do not dare to ‘speak up’ for fear of being bullied by others. With this Permendikbud, victims of sexual harassment and violence will feel protected and can sue perpetrators of harassment with sanctions in the Permendikbud.
Meanwhile, those who disagree have reasons that many of the articles in it are ambiguous and still need to be reviewed, one of which is the interpretation that the regulation legalizes free sex/adultery.
Then, when asked about regulations related to the handling and prevention of sexual violence in the UMS environment, 59 respondents said they did not know, 12 respondents said it already existed, and the rest said it did not yet.
From these data, it can be concluded that student knowledge regarding the prevention and handling of sexual violence at UMS is still very minimal. There needs to be more massive outreach from universities to make students understand about these rules and regulations so that their functions can be carried out more optimally.
Reporter : Ayu Ukhti Muslimah (English Education’ 19) & Muhammad Firdaus Imani (Informatics’ 18)
Writer : Ayu Ukhti Muslimah (English Education’ 19)
Editor : Ayu Ukhti Muslimah (English Education’ 19) & Thifa Nabilla Jazaufi (Pharmacy’19)
