The Dilemma of Fighting for Safe Campuses: The Challenges of Efforts to Prevent and Address Sexual Violence in Higher Education

Abstract

This research focuses on identifying challenges in efforts to prevent and address sexual violence on campus, based on case studies at three campuses in the Greater Jakarta region of Indonesia. The methods used were qualitative; data collection included observation, interviews with 29 participants, and documentation. The data was analyzed using Publish or Perish, Vos Viewer, and NVivo 12 Plus. The findings of this study show that the issue of sexual violence is a complex issue so that it creates a dilemma, the campus is required to provide a sense of security free from sexual violence but on the other hand the campus faces various challenges including: sexual violence is seen as a sensitive issue so that victims do not dare to report; policy implementation does not pay attention to norms, social order, and campus culture; the campus is not quick to respond; lack of support of facilities and infrastructure, funds, time and workload, human resources; uneven socialization; the victim had difficulty proving the case; the perpetrator has a higher power relationship; other cases of sexual violence (cases of revenge of ex-boyfriends, cases outside the tridharma of higher education, cases in the digital realm, and cases involving other institutions). Strategies to face these challenges can be carried out by transforming campus structures and building collaboration between various parties (academics, campuses, government, National Commission for Women, and so on) in realizing a campus that is safe from sexual violence.