Technical and vocational education and training

Making educational institutions safe places for women

A new book written by students and lecturers at an Indonesian polytechnic calls for an end to sexual violence and harassment on campus.

Article | 22 September 2022
Polimarin students read a new book written by students and lecturers to promote the prevention of violence and sexual harassment on campus. ©ILO
Imbalanced power relations - between males and females, lecturers and students, and senior and junior staff members - is one of the causes of sexual harassment and gender-based violence on campus. This reality is exposed in a book recently published by Indonesia’s Semarang State Polytechnic (Polimarin).

Entitled The War Against Big Crime in Higher Education, the book has become a tool for the polytechnic to raise awareness on the need to prevent violence and sexual harassment on campus.

Published in the Bahasa Indonesia language, the book is a compilation of 26 articles penned by 26 students and lecturers at the polytechnic. The articles were selected from a total of 56 submitted for a writing competition organized by the polytechnic in June this year.

The competition was part of a series of capacity building and technical assistance activities that the ILO-UK Skills for Prosperity Programme in Indonesia (SfP-Indonesia) has provided to Polimarin—one of the programme’s four polytechnic partners.

The competition is part of Polimarin’s action plan to contribute to the commitment of all universities and polytechnics in Indonesia to end sexual violence, as mandated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology’s regulation on the prevention and handling of sexual violence in higher education (HE) and technical and vocational education and training (TVET).

Gender inequality and power relations between lecturers and students, or seniors and juniors, make victims of sexual harassment and violence remain silent."

Rispina, a Polimarin student
This new regulation is a response to the number of violence and harassment cases reported in educational institutions in Indonesia. The National Commission on Violence Against Women said 51 cases occurred from 2015 to 2021 - 27% of them in universities – although these officially-reported cases were likely only the tip of the iceberg.

Among the 26 published stories, six of them are winners of the competition– three by lecturers and three by students.

Rispina is among the student winners. Her article entitled Creating a Campus Free from Sexual Violence and Harassment highlights that: “Gender inequality and power relations between lecturers and students, or seniors and juniors, make victims of sexual harassment and violence remain silent. They were not even encouraged to speak up.”

In addition, the piece says the lack of knowledge about gender-based violence in the campus environment contributed to these violations. Her article argues that a campus should be a centre for learning and understanding of human values – free of sexual exploitation, violence and harassment.

Ahmad Umam Aufi is another of the winners. His article points out that the phenomenon of gender-based violence is caused by the traditional perspective of gender imbalance that positions men as higher and more powerful than women. Therefore, his article says, gender mainstreaming has to begin with developing gender-based policies, equitable access to education, equality of learning designs, infrastructure support and a safe environment on campus.

“To foster an anti-violence and anti-harassment environment on campus, gender issues should be mainstreamed on campus and religious understanding of women should be reconstructed,” Ahmad Umam Aufi writes.

Evi Sirait is another winner. Her article advocates for the prevention and handling of violence and harassment in HE and TVET, including polytechnics, to be included in strategic plans for education development in Indonesia. HE and TVET institutions should also commit to implementing concrete actions by allocating budgets, coordinating resources on campus, and facilitating the prevention and handling of sexual harassment cases, she says.

Most stories reflect a desire for the campus to be more open and sensitive in addressing sexual harassment and violence. They recommend that Polimarin should put in place a mechanism for victims of harassment and violence to report their cases, enabling them to exercise their rights - and complete their education.

Akhmad Nuriyanis, Director of Polimarin, said the writing competition is a perfect way to help Polimarin become an inclusive campus for vulnerable groups such as female students. The contest is also a strategic approach to motivate the intellectual community to learn the importance of preventing violence and sexual harassment on campus, he said.

“Dozens of students participated in the contest. This is a huge number given that there are just about 400 students in our campus. Making the campus free of harassment has obviously become an issue of great interest in the Polimarin community,” said Mr Nuriyanis.

In addition to the writing contest, Polimarin has created in-depth podcasts entitled Nothing About Us Without Us and Stop Violence and Harassment as part of its advocacy efforts. It has also installed signboards carrying anti-violence and anti-harassment messages on campus.

Mary Kent, SfP-Indonesia Chief Technical Advisor, said: “Vocational institutions fulfil the role of providing skills training and preparing students for productive employment. As such, they also have an important role in establishing acceptable attitudes and behaviours that will shape the outlook of graduates as they progress to the workplace.”

Ms Kent said: “The skills system in Indonesia is a critical component supporting the nation in its vision to become a just and civilized global maritime economy. We congratulate the winners and all participants in the competition, and hope that other institutions will be inspired by the example set by Polimarin.”