Aceh DPR Highlights Rise Of Sexual Harassment Cases In Islamic Boarding Schools

Photo Archive - Deputy Speaker of the Aceh House of Representatives Safaruddin (ANTARA)

ACEH - The Aceh People's Representative Council (DPR) has highlighted cases of sexual harassment and rape that have recently been rife in the religious education environment (pesantren) in the local province.

Deputy Chairperson of the Aceh House of Representatives, Safaruddin, regrets that sexual harassment cases have entered the pesantren environment. A recitation teacher who was supposed to educate the students, instead became the perpetrator of this deviant act.

“We are very sorry and regret that recently cases of sexual harassment and rape have occurred in the pesantren environment. A teacher should be an educator, now he is actually doing this very shameful act," he said in Banda Aceh, Antara, Wednesday, February 16.

He mentioned that Aceh is known as the Veranda of Mecca, so it should be an example for other regions so that the pesantren environment can be a safe place for students to gain religious knowledge.

“The Islamic boarding school should be a safe and comfortable place to study and study. It's not even deprived of their right to enjoy their study period," he said.

The Gerindra Party politician hopes that cases of sexual violence in Islamic boarding schools will not happen again. Therefore, he asked related parties to tighten supervision and regulations to prevent such cases from happening again.

"Indeed, this immoral act was carried out by unscrupulous persons, but we should be aware of it. Because, cases of sexual violence in Islamic boarding schools in Aceh could be repeated,” he said.

He also asked the government to tighten regulations on educational institutions that are boarding schools, such as the permit to establish a religious education institution.

“In Aceh, there are many religious educational institutions that are boarding schools. Therefore, I think it is necessary for us to check whether the institution has obtained an official permit or not,” said Safaruddin.

As is known, it was recently revealed that cases of sexual violence by reciting teachers against students occurred in several areas in Aceh.

Among them the police arrested a pesantren leader for allegedly raping his underage santri in Southeast Aceh.

After that, Bener Meriah Police also arrested a Koran teacher from one of the Islamic boarding schools for allegedly committing sodomy against his students, and in the most recent case, a Koran teacher in the Lhokseumawe Police jurisdiction was again reported for allegedly raping his 15-year-old student.