Maretha Uli, Jakarta – Violence against women in Greater Jakarta, particularly gender-based abuse happening in online spaces and criminalization against women has been increasing in the past year, according to the Jakarta chapter of the Legal Aid Foundation of the Indonesian Women's Association for Justice (LBH APIK Jakarta).
Throughout 2025, the legal aid group, which focuses on advocating for women's rights, received and assisted 1,212 cases, marking a 60-percent increase in complaints compared to the previous year.
Based on community reports in Jakarta and the surrounding areas of Bogor, Depok and Bekasi municipalities in West Java as well Tangerang city in Banten, the most common cases involved online-based violence, totaling 319 cases. The figure rose from just 16 cases reported last year.
Among the types of online violence reported to LBH APIK Jakarta were threatening and actually spreading sexually explicit content, the threatening of physical violence, illegal recording, stalking and doxing.
After online violence, domestic violence was the second most reported to the group, with 297 cases. Taking the form of psychological and physical abuse, most victims reported experiencing more than one type of ill treatments at the same time.
Meanwhile, the number of sexual violence cases reached 166, mostly involving physical abuse against adult women, along with eight cases of child rape and three cases of sexual harassment against children.
"This number of sexual violence cases is particularly high," said LBH APIK Jakarta lawyer Said Niam said at the report's launch on Dec. 10, "especially after the enactment of the Sexual Violence Eradicaiton Law, which has failed to curb the trend and cases continue to rise each year."
LBH APIK Jakarta's report said the country has yet to fully protect women, pointing to gender bias and poor handling by law enforcement officers. These shortcomings often lead to secondary victimization, when victims are reported back by perpetrators or pressured to drop their complaints, practices that the group said violating the 2022 Sexual Violence Eradication Law.
Gaps in law enforcement body's handling in gender-based violence cases persist as officers remain uncertain about how to process such cases, especially those taking place online, said University of Indonesia (UI) law expert Lidwina Inge Nurtjahyo.
"Within the police, there's still confusion whether online gender-based violence cases should be handled by the women protection unit or the cybercrime one," she said at the report's launch.
"The number of women police officers is also still limited, and gender sensitivity is still lacking even among women law enforcement officers," Lidwina went on to say.
LBH APIK Jakarta's report this year also highlighted criminalization of women, which extended to those who speak out and conveyed criticisms against authorities.
Among the notable examples was Laras Faizati, who was indicted for allegedly inciting people online to burn down the National Police headquarters in Jakarta during nationwide protests in late August against economic inequality and lavish allowance for lawmakers.
The legal aid group, including lawyer Said, is assisting Laras as her trial proceeds at the South Jakarta District Court.
"We want to show that criticism should not be met with imprisonment, as it is a form of expression meant to prevent abuse of power by officials. This is a clear example of silencing," he said.
Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Arifatul Choiri Fauzi said protection against online gender violence is addressed in the Sexual Violence Eradication Law, while protection for children is further stipulated in the 2025 Government Regulation on Electronic Systems Providers Governance in Child Protection (PP TUNAS), among other regulations.
"Prevention and response efforts online must be carried out in synergy with multiple stakeholders," Arifatul said in a statement on Thursday.
"This includes providing digital literacy and training for activists and content creators, raising awareness of violence against women and children, as well as guidance on how to report cases in the digital space," she said.
According to the ministry, domestic violence was the most prevalent form of abuse recorded this year, with more than 6,000 cases reported. Meanwhile, at least 720 cases of online abuse against women were reported through a hotline managed by the ministry.
Source: https://asianews.network/online-abuse-tops-violence-against-women-in-greater-jakarta