The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology has urged university students to build their understanding of the types of sexual violence and report such violence early to prevent trauma.

“University students should be more aware and report if sexual (violence) occurs. Report it early while the effects are not so severe so that it can be handled immediately,” the first expert policy analyst at the Character Strengthening Center of the ministry, Shara Zakia Nissa, said at the “Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence” talk show at Jakarta Veteran National Development University (UPNVJ), here on Tuesday.

According to Nissa, in the period from January to July 2022, the ministry recorded 12 cases of sexual violence in 3 schools under the ministry and 9 cases in educational institutions under the ministry.

A survey conducted by the ministry at 79 universities in 29 cities in 2020 showed that 63 percent of sexual violence cases went unreported merely to maintain the universities’ reputations.

For that reason, Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Nadiem Makarim, issued Ministerial Regulation Number 30 of 2021 concerning the prevention and handling of sexual violence in higher education.

There are 21 types of sexual violence regulated by the ministerial regulation, including catcalling and sending sexually charged digital content, Nissa noted.

She appealed to victims of sexual violence to report it to the university or consult a psychologist. She said that victims of sexual violence, whose numbers are dominated by female students, are afraid to report it and tend to keep it to themselves for a long period of time, which in the end, affects their mental health.

She lauded UPNVJ, which has instituted a sexual violence prevention and handling task force, and expressed hope that the task force will disseminate information on sexual violence and become a bridge for victims to file reports.

Source: Antara News