The sexual assault tragedy that has taken place at the
Jakarta International School sparked massive attention and concern among both
Indonesians and expatriates. Since the tragedy was announced, it made headlines
all over the country. But there is a lot more to this case than the “mere”
criminal act of alleged sexual assault of a young boy. Some media outlets wrote
about a so-called emergency situation created by “pedophiles and homosexuals,”
which shows that this tragic case has been used provocatively to discredit an
already-marginalized group in Indonesia, namely homosexuals. Additionally, when
looking at this case we should not ignore issues of social hierarchy and the
wide economic gap between the alleged perpetrators and the people or the
institution they worked for. This is another crucial factor in determining how
this particular case is has been handled by government institutions, the school
and the media.
Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) chairman
Asrorun Niam Sholeh spoke to Tribunnews.com about what he said was the indecent
behavior of JIS students and teachers. He said he had received reports about
physical contact between teachers and students, and intimate relationships
between female and male students. Others also criticized female students at JIS
for their allegedly “sexy” wardrobe. Generally, the students’ behavior and
clothes were being associated with “Western values.” Asrorun also mentioned
that he received a report about a gay teacher working at JIS, and Jakarta
Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said: “The suspect is a janitor who can be
categorized as gay.”
The
police spokesman added the categorization of “mental illness.”
The KPAI and the Jakarta Police are two of the most
important institutions handling this case. Parents of victims are counting on
these organizations to bring the perpetrators to justice. So, rather than
focusing on the behavior of students who are victims of sexual abuse, the KPAI
should be concentrating on the protection of the students from sexual predators
— whoever they are. The only message the KPAI should be sending out to the
public is that an adult should not be allowed to abuse a child, regardless of
what clothes that child is wearing and whether or not the child socializes with
other children — boys or girls. OurVoice Indonesia is an organization that has
been working for several years on the issue of gender diversity and justice.
Under the leadership of Hartoyo, OurVoice is also very active in promoting
justice for victims of sexual abuse. The organization has expressed its
concerns about the JIS tragedy — and especially about the apparent attempt by
some parties involved to link the issue to homosexuality. On April 17, OurVoice
sent a protest letter to Rikwanto, demanding that the Jakarta Police prioritize
punishing the perpetrators and unequivocally consider the students at JIS as
victims.
OurVoice
also explains in the letter that pedophilic acts should be seen as sexual acts
performed by an adult on a child. Thus, a pedophile is not remotely similar a
homosexual: a male or female who is sexually and emotionally attracted to
people of the same gender. The protest letter rightly expresses the fear that
misinformed statements could lead to hatred of and violence towards gay people
in Indonesia. And importantly, the organization stresses that better education
can solve many problems regarding gender and sexuality in this country.
Every day in Indonesia, there are many cases of rape and
sexual abuse. However, rarely do these cases get anywhere near the amount of
media attention the JIS case has. There are women, transgendered people and
children who are not as privileged as the victims associated with a prestigious
school, who have suffered just as much, physically and emotionally. This is not
to disparage the suffering of all those hurt by the JIS tragedy, but too often,
the traumatic experiences of other victims are simply overlooked in this
country. JIS is known as a school for children of diplomats and expatriate
businesspeople. As a consequence, this school has been receiving exceptional
attention from not only the media, but also the police, the government and the
public. It didn’t take very long for police to take a number of suspects into
custody. They were low-income cleaning personnel who could not afford a lawyer
and concerns have been raised over their treatment. In fact, one suspect
apparently committed suicide under suspicious circumstances while in police
custody. It is not unlikely that — had the social positions of victims and
perpetrators been reversed — the case would not even have seen the light of
day.
As Indonesians, for a long time we have been hiding behind
norms and values that we believed could save us and our children from sexual
violence, unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. We also are
very proud of the traditions that we think can protect our own freedom and
personal liberation in the face of our own deprivations. But we cannot watch
our children 24/7. They will at some point in their lives be confronted with
questions about sexuality and possibly with the undesirable sexual behavior of
others. We, as parents, the state, educational institutions — as society at
large — should provide our children with a better understanding of gender, sex
and sexuality. Only then can we hope that all sexual abuse cases, if not
prevented, will at least be seen for what they are, and tackled, regardless of
the social status of the victim, by a law enforcement system that knows the
difference between homosexuality and pedophilia.
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