A number of representatives from various elements of society and women\'s organizations participated in the “Women March” action from Jalan MH Thamrin to the front of the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Saturday (3/3/2018).
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Online gender-based violence through social media applications should not be tolerated. Apart from being wise and vigilant, social media users must also have the courage to fight terror, consult with advocacy institutions and report such incidents to the police.
Director general of Information Applications at the Communications and Information Ministry, Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, called on all parties to increase understanding of the digital space to anticipate various hoaxes online.
"If you experience sexual harassment, don\'t respond to it. [You] must block the account [of the perpetrator]. If it [the harassment] is excessive, contains threats, [you] must immediately report it to aduankonten.id or to the police. The point is [you must] not communicate with strangers. You have to be careful because many predators are looking for prey,” said Semuel, on Monday (14/12/2020).
In addition, to prevent children from becoming victims, there needs to be parental assistance in digital literacy. For example, (parents must) remind children never to open links or messages from strangers. Basic knowledge of activities in the digital sphere must be improved so that it does not give space to people who have evil intentions.
"Various data and facts have illustrated how serious the current situation is regarding gender-based violence, especially in the Covid-19 pandemic that has hit us for more than nine months," said Women\'s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister I Gusti Ayu Bintang Darmawati.
Bintang hopes that education and campaigns to prevent online gender-based violence are carried out together so that the community, especially women and children, are safe.
Kompas/Raditya Helabumi
Women\'s rights activists take part in the 500 First Steps to Pass the Bill on the Elimination of Sexual Violence (PKS) in front of the DPR Building, Senayan, Jakarta, Wednesday (25/11/2020). The action is part of the 16 Days Anti-Violence Against Women Campaign to encourage efforts to eliminate violence against women around the world.
The National Police (Polri), through the directorate of cybercrime (Dittipidsiber) at the Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), provides the Laporkan! channel on the patrolisiber.id page. Anyone with knowledge of an alleged cybercrime can report it via the channel.
However, reports via the Laporkan! channel do not automatically become a police report because it contains only a fraction of the information about cybercrime. A police report can only be issued if there is a variety of valid supporting evidence and a complete chronology of events.
Sharing the guideline
To fight online gender-based violence, the government and a number of civil society organizations have also shared guidelines for dealing with these crimes, such as the Legal Aid Institute for the Indonesian Women\'s Association for Justice (LBH APIK) Jakarta and the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet).
LBH APIK Jakarta in October 2020 launched an Online Gender Based-Violence Handbook "[You’re] threatened [by someone] that your private/intimate content to be circulated? [You] get uncomfortable treatment on social media? [You’re] confused what to do?”
The guidebook explains the forms of online gender-based violence and what to do if you become a victim. If you fall victim, steps that must be taken include documenting (taking screenshots) of the contents of chat, social media, then making a chronology of the incident (what happened, who the perpetrator was, when it happened, how it happened), and saving the content link. Victims should keep the perpetrator\'s data with information of place and time.
"The Cyber Crime Investigation Center team at Bareskrim once stated that the screenshot of the link address could be considered valid evidence. Contact SAFEnet or LBH APIK Jakarta,” said director of LBH APIK Jakarta Siti Mazumah.
Kompas/Raditya Helabumi
Dozens of pairs of shoes were placed in front of the gates of the DPR Building, Senayan, Jakarta, during the 500 First Steps to Pass the Bill on the Elimination of Sexual Violence (PKS), Wednesday (25/11/2020).
SAFEnet\'s guidebook provides tips on protecting privacy on social media and chatting apps, with a few steps. For example, separate private accounts from public accounts; check and reset privacy settings, and control yourself who or what can access your personal data; create a strong password and turn on the login verification; do not trust third party applications arbitrarily; avoid real time location sharing.
Instagram Asia Pacific communication manager Putri Silalahi said Instagram has Community Guidelines that regulate what content is allowed and not allowed. Instagram is also proactive in removing negative content, such as content that contains bullying and sexual harassment.
Head of the Center for Strengthening the Character at the Education and Culture Ministry, Hendarman, in the webinar "Against Gender-Based Violence", at the end of last November, said that the Education and Culture Ministry opened an integrated service unit for victims of sexual violence through the ult.kemdikbud.go.id page and Call Center 177 as well as providing psychologist assistance.
For hotline services, they are among others, the service page sekolahaman.kemdikbud.go.id; short messaging service to 08119769293; telephone 02157903020 or 0215703303; facsimile 0215733125; email to laporkekerasan@kemdikbud.go.id or the public can also contact the nearest police station, education office and school.
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