Editorial board, Jakarta – The Bandung District Court sentenced ustad (Islamic preacher) Herry Wirawan to life on Feb. 15 after finding him guilty of raping 13 teenage students and impregnating at least eight of them at his Tahfidz Madani pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Bandung. The heinous crime had been swept under the rug for five years until the parents of one of the victims filed a report with the police.

Perhaps the case is just the tip of the iceberg as rape victims, especially if they are minors, are too afraid to speak up due to their fear of retaliation from the perpetrators, victim-blaming and many other reasons. With more than 31,000 pesantren, not to mention thousands of faith-based organizations providing education and care to children, there may be predators looking for easy prey under the guise of piety.

In a case such as the Bandung pesantren horror, the sexual violence could happen due to an unequal power relation between a teacher and his students. A respected teacher like Herry might demand absolute obedience from his students. It often happens that when victims speak up, the public might accuse them of defamation instead.

Mainstream media and social media have often reported sexual assault or harassment allegedly committed by teachers, ustad, school principals and lecturers. Just recently the police arrested two lecturers in Riau and South Sumatra for allegedly sexually harassing their female students.

Sexual violence has continued to rise in the country, leading some to call for a state of sex crime emergency. Another attempt to fight sex crimes also took shape in a 2020 government regulation that mandates chemical castration for convicted child rapists.For almost a decade the House of Representatives has been reluctant to address the problem, and since 2017 the House has declined to deliberate the sexual violence bill. Only in December did the legislators eventually agree to discuss the bill, unfortunately a much watered-down version.

The bill, when passed, will lay down a strong legal framework to categorize sex violence as a crime punishable by the law, and to provide protection and a recovery process for victims.

The House, however, has not set a definite timetable for deliberation. In January, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo urged the House to accelerate the passage of the bill. "The protection of victims of sexual violence should be our common concern, especially concerning sexual violence against women, which should be urgently addressed," said the President.

Although it is too late, the Religious Affairs Ministry, which supervises religious-based schools across the country, eventually announced its plan to impose stricter control over pesantren and other similar schools. The Bandung pesantren case showed how weak the control was. One of the ministry's powers is to stop the government subsidy for the schools and the salary of their teachers.

There is also an urgent need to intensify sex education for students because they get most of the information and misinformation about sex from social media. This attempt has been challenging as conservative Muslims perceive sex education as a justification of free sex.

The House should prioritize the passage of the bill as there are many sex predators waiting for the right time to strike. While the bill will by no means end sex crimes, it provides a better legal framework to bring predators to justice.

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2022/02/18/a-haven-for-sex-predators.htm