Commission VIII Urges To Issue A Ministerial Regulation On Supervision For The Prevention Of Sexual Violence

MSAT alias Mas Bechi/DOK ANTARA

JAKARTA - Parliament is pushing for the issuance of a Minister of Religion Regulation (Permenag) on the prevention and control of sexual violence in religious education institutions. This follows the discovery of many cases of sexual violence in Islamic boarding schools (Ponpes).

According to the Deputy Chairman of Commission VIII of the DPR RI, Diah Pitaloka, public trust in religious education institutions is quite high. Therefore, the monitoring system must be carried out effectively, especially in terms of prevention.

"The urgency of this Permenag is quite high. This regulation can serve as a monitoring system in religious education institutions so as to prevent the occurrence of sexual violence," said Diah Pitaloka, Wednesday, July 13.

The Minister of Religion Regulation concerning the prevention and control of sexual violence in religious education institutions is said to have entered the stage of harmonization between related ministries or institutions. Diah reminded that this rule should be socialized maximally.

"It must be well socialized to religious educational institutions and to the public in general to be circulated as widely as possible. And the existing rules should not only be made but also implemented," said Diah in a written statement.

The head of the DPR apparatus who is in charge of religious, social affairs, as well as women's empowerment and child protection considers that it is the obligation of the Ministry of Religion to build a monitoring system in religious education institutions from acts of sexual violence.

Diah asked that the monitoring system carried out by the Ministry of Religion would be more practical. This is because so far the Ministry of Religion's supervision of religious education institutions still feels rhetorical or normative.

"It is better to arrive at SOPs that are operative in nature to implement the monitoring system in religious education institutions. So the supervision must be more practical in nature,” explained Diah.

"The public has not seen them carry out surveillance because they have not seen the results of the supervision, including reports to the public," he added. Supervision is one of the forms of prevention.

“This prevention function is one way to maintain public trust. We all need to jointly maintain public trust in educational institutions, especially religious education, so that their image should not be bad because of someone's mistake in it," said Diah.

A rigid surveillance system allows individual perpetrators of sexual violence to be processed according to the applicable law. That way, said Diah, the perpetrators will not feel above the law because of the lack of commitment to supervision from the internal parties of religious education institutions and the Ministry of Religion.

"I'm sure there are still many who are good at carrying out the teaching and learning process and providing examples and role models. But this issue has become a moral demand that the public wants," he said.

Regarding the findings of a number of cases of sexual violence in Islamic boarding schools, Diah reminded that this issue should not be directly linked to the institution. Because the problem of sexual violence can happen to be done by individuals.

"But yes, the law must work in building and upholding justice, no one is above the law."

Diah said the internal supervision system of religious education institutions was also needed as an internal monitoring effort for students as well as teachers and caregivers of Islamic boarding schools. With the recent cases of sexual violence being revealed in a number of Islamic boarding schools, evaluation is considered mandatory.

"There needs to be an evaluation where the weaknesses are. Because when it comes to educational institutions, what is considered important is not only the curriculum, but also how to build a safe environment for students," said Diah.

"This also applies to other educational institutions. Because the problem of obscenity also occurs in many other educational institutions. Islamic boarding schools or general education institutions must build a surveillance and prevention system," continued the legislator from the West Java III electoral district.

Diah added, the monitoring system from the internal environment of religious education institutions must also prioritize the prevention of cases of sexual violence as mandated in Law No. 12 of 2022 concerning the Crime of Sexual Violence (TPKS).

"Only when there are perpetrators who commit acts of sexual violence, then what is the evaluation of the surveillance system. Today I see this as immature as a system in educational institutions,” said Diah.