JAKARTA – Cases of sexual harassment in educational institutions are increasingly worrying. Look at the data from the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) at the end of 2021. There were 207 children aged 3-17 years who were victims, 71 of them were boys.
Of these, 36 percent were junior high school students, 32 percent were elementary school students/equivalent, 28 percent were high school students/equivalent, and 4 percent were in kindergarten. Sadly, of the 18 cases of sexual violence in the educational environment, 14 of them occurred in education units under the authority of the Ministry of Religion. The majority of the perpetrators are educators.
Data from the Education and Teacher Association (P2G) says the figure is higher. There are at least 27 incidents of sexual harassment in religious-based educational institutions throughout Indonesia throughout 2021.
This number does not even include sexual violence that occurs outside formal religious education units. For example, the molestation of a dozen boys by teachers in Padang and Ternate. Sexual violence is usually carried out several times over a period of more than 1 year.
How was this year? When referring to media coverage. VOI collected at least four cases of sexual harassment in religious-based educational institutions, both formal and non-formal.
The first case occurred in TPQ, which is located in one of the villages in the Sooko District, Mojokerto Regency. Ustaz TPQ named Rudianto alias Dian (40) molested three boys. Two of the victims were 12 years old, while 1 victim was 14 years old. The first victim was molested five times. The second and third victims 10 times each. Conducted in January-February 2022.
According to the Mojokerto Police Chief AKBP Apip Ginanjar, the perpetrator checked whether the victim had reached puberty or not and asked the victim to watch pornographic videos. "The victim was shown pornographic videos (using the suspect's cellphone), until finally the suspect molested the victim. Other victims were also treated the same way," he explained, quoted from detik.com.
The second case is in a religion-based school in Subang Regency. The perpetrator is a civil servant teacher with the initials DAN. He molested his protégé with the initials E (15) more than 10 times in one year.
This case began with Police Report Number 656 dated May 23, 2022 which was reported by the victim's family. The Subang Police Chief at that time, AKBP Sumarni, said that the perpetrator's actions were revealed by the victim's mother who read the writing containing the victim's complaint. “When asked by her parents regarding the story she wrote, the victim confessed. The writing is true as it is and experienced by the victim while undergoing junior secondary education, "he said quoted from Tribunnews.
The third case occurred at the Riyadhul Jannah Islamic Boarding School, Depok. The police have named four suspects for molesting dozens of female students. Three of them work as ustaz, while the other suspect is a senior student.
The determination of the suspect is based on the results of the investigation and the investigation of three police reports. The report is registered with the numbers LP/B/3082/VI/SPKT/PMJ, LP/B/3083/VI/SPKT/PMJ, and LP/B/3084/VI/SPKT/PMJ.
The fourth case occurred at the Siddiqiyah Islamic Boarding School in Jombang. The suspect is Moch Subchi Azal Tsani or Mas Bechi, the crown prince of KH Muhammad Mukhtar Mukhti who is the caretaker of Ponpes Shiddiqiyah. He was reported by the East Java Regional Police by a woman since October 2019.
As reported by VOI, the Jombang Police have named Mas Bechi as a suspect in 2020. Disapproved, Mas Bechi submitted a pretrial to the Surabaya District Court for the determination of the suspect, but the judge refused. The case continued and investigators submitted the first phase of the file to the East Java High Court and it was declared complete or P21.
In January 2022, Mas Bechi was summoned by the East Java Police to undergo the process of handing over the second phase of the East Java Police investigators to the East Java Prosecutor's Office. However, he was absent. The East Java Police finally put himself on the wanted list (DPO) or fugitives. He finally surrendered on Thursday (7/7) night and was detained at the Medaeng Rutan, Sidoarjo.
This series of cases certainly creates a big question mark regarding the credibility of pesantren and other religious-based educational institutions. Pesantren that should be a place to print generations of religious character have become a hotbed for sexual predators. What's really wrong?
Morals and Clash of CulturesThe Executive Director of the Indonesian Moderates Network, Islah Bahrawi, views these cases as moral issues, not problems with the education system or the competence of educators. Good morals don't always come from religious people. Morals are born from human nature. Even non-religious people can have good morals as long as they are able to respect the dignity of others regardless of their religious background, ethnicity, economic condition or anything else.
“If there is a religious educator who commits sexual harassment to his students, it is not in the context of his religion, the crime is committed in the context of his human behavior. Because there is no religion that advocates sexual crimes. This is what we have to look at in reverse logic. Crimes can be committed by anyone, good morals can be committed by anyone," said Islah when contacted by VOI, Thursday (14/7).
The behavior of humans who ride religion and use religious robes to seem pious, seem holy is the root of the problem.
“If we want to save the good name of religion, if we feel we want to defend religion, then we must be able to defeat the potential for evil within ourselves. Well, practitioners of educational institutions, ustaz, teachers who then commit sexual harassment to their students, must be aware that he carries religious identification. He carried an educational identification within him that should set an example for others. That's why he must be able to maintain his behavior," he said.
In addition to morals and behavior, the cause is also a clash of cultures or what is known as civil civilizations. Unlike before, in the digital era, educators can easily access any information.
"It could be that he is currently in the corner of the room watching pornographic content that unconsciously stimulates his mind to commit sexual crimes. Now, people don't need to crowd, no need to be influent from other people to commit crimes,” continued Islah.
“Humans are humans who do not have the nature of infallibility. We have to be careful in looking at religious symbols, it doesn't mean we can't be reverent or taklim to people who are knowledgeable, but we also have to be able to separate one's knowledge from one's morals. All philosophical sciences, all religious studies have clearly stated that good morals have the potential to be carried out by any human being, of any religion, including even people who are not religious," said Islah.
Head of the MUI Fatwa Division, Asrorun Ni'am Sholeh, reminded that cases of sexual harassment that occurred should not make parents afraid to send their children to Islamic boarding schools. After all, Islamic boarding schools are the best choice for character education. Integrating formal, informal, and non-formal education with exemplary approaches and parenting that is integrated with religion.
The thing to note, be selective in choosing a boarding school. "Before placing children, parents must understand and know the factual conditions of the pesantren, starting from who the caregivers are, the subjects taught, and their daily activities," said Ni'am.
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