The Urgency of Sexual Violence in the Police Education Curriculum

Kapolri Jenderal Listyo Sigit memimpin upacara Korps Raport pamen-pati Polri di Gedung Rupattama Mabes Polri, Jakarta, Sabtu (31/12). Foto: Dok. Polri

The Economist has released a ranking list of countries that have successfully tackled child sexual abuse. In that list, Indonesia is ranked 32 out of 40 countries (England is ranked 1st and Pakistan is ranked last). This rating is in line with data from Komnas Perempuan which received 4,500 complaints of cases of violence against women during the January-October 2021 period.

Cases of sexual violence that have occurred in Indonesia recently (summarized from various sources):

Ilustrasi kekerasan seksual kepada wanita berhijab. Foto: Shutterstock

Law Number 2 of 2002 concerning the Indonesian National Police in Article 2 states that the function of the police is one of the functions of the state government in the field of maintaining public security and order, law enforcement, protection, protection and service to the community. Article 4, the National Police of the Republic of Indonesia aims to realize domestic security which includes maintaining security and public order, order and upholding of the law, the implementation of protection, protection and service to the community, as well as fostering public peace by upholding human rights. Article 5 paragraph (1) The National Police of the Republic of Indonesia is a state instrument that plays a role in maintaining public order and security, enforcing the law, and providing protection, protection and service to the public in the framework of maintaining domestic security.

An irony, in cases of sexual harassment when the victim reports it to the police which is the place to seek security, the report is ignored and efforts are made to settle it fairly. The police often behave in a normative manner, only reading the "edges" contained in the regulations and are not critical in addressing why and how what should be done according to the purpose of the regulation, especially with regard to evidence in cases of sexual violence. The use of restorative justice is also often inappropriate so that it does not provide justice for the victim. The state seems indifferent to sexual violence.

Even though cases of sexual harassment are one of the main issues discussed by the current generation. Social media highlighted that too. In fact, due to the many cases of sexual harassment that were not resolved by the police, the hashtag #percumalaporpolisi went viral on social media. This condition shows a decline in the level of public trust in the police institution.

This situation has even caught the attention of President Joko Widodo, who has summoned all levels of police throughout Indonesia, up to the level of the chief of police, to the palace in 2022 after the FS case. If the current generation of police is considered by the community to be unable to solve problems related to sexual violence in carrying out their duties, then where else should the people report it? Do you want to continue like this?

Police Education

Professions related to human rights include police and doctors. Human rights in Indonesia are regulated in law no. 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights, explains that human rights are a set of rights inherent in every individual as a creature of God Almighty and must be upheld, respected and protected by the state, law, government and everyone. These rights include the right to life, security, not to be disturbed, freedom from slavery and torture. The police profession is of course to maintain security rights where the enlisted and non-commissioned officer education is around 5 months, for the Police Inspector's School Inspector's education is about 6 months, the police academy education is around 4 years. The medical profession is certainly an implementation to protect the right to life where medical students need 7-10 years to study and have a Practice Permit (SIP). Starting from the preclinical period, coas, internships, and specialist schools if you want to deepen a certain field. There is a significant difference in the study period in the two professions which both maintain human rights in producing their human resources.

There are 2 (two) types of training and formation of police officers, namely education for the formation of the Indonesian National Police brigadier and education for the formation of the Agol First Officer Police Education and Development Agency. This is stated in Article 16 of the Chief of Police Regulation Number 14 of 2015 concerning the Indonesian National Police Education System.

Meanwhile, Article 21 of the Perkap mentions Police Training includes:

a. Tamtama Polri/PNS Group I;

b. Bintara Polri/PNS Group II;

c. First Officer of Police/PNS Group III; And

d. Intermediate Police Officer/PNS Group IV

Types of training consist of:

a. individual training, namely training activities to develop individual abilities and skills that must be possessed by every member of the Indonesian National Police;

b. functional training, namely training conducted to maintain and improve functional ability in accordance with the field of duty; And

c. unitary training, namely training carried out by functional units within the Polri organization in an integrated manner both at the Central and regional/Polda levels.

Article 27 states that standard content includes curriculum and Hanjar for each type and level of Polri education. Meanwhile, Article 29 states that the Polri higher education curriculum must include the following subjects:

a. religion;

b. Pancasila;

c. Civic education;

d. Indonesian; And

e. character building.

The content of the Polri higher education curriculum is regulated by each Polri educational unit.

Whereas in the Decree of the Head of the National Police Education and Training Institute Number: Kep/225/IV/2016 concerning the Education Curriculum for the Formation of Police Officers, there is a gender subject. So, at the beginning of their education, a police officer should understand gender issues as well as law enforcement to achieve justice for victims.

Sexual violence in Indonesia

Law Number 12 of 2022 concerning Crimes of Sexual Violence (TPKS), Article 4 states that crimes of sexual violence include non-physical sexual harassment, physical sexual harassment, forced contraception, forced sterilization, forced marriage, sexual torture, sexual exploitation, sexual slavery and electronic based sexual violence.

According to the Good News from Indonesia (GNFI) survey with the Indonesian Public Opinion Study and Discussion Group (KedaiKOPI), the main issue of concern to the young generation in 2022 is sexual harassment. Where as the biggest user of social media, the most common type of sexual violence encountered is electronic-based sexual violence, for example in the form of threats from ex-boyfriends who spread exciting photos, etc.

From January to November 2022, Komnas Perempuan received 3,014 cases of gender-based violence against women, including 860 cases of sexual violence in the public/community sphere and 899 cases in the personal sphere. In early 2021, the National Police declared 22 criminal acts of intercourse, obscenity, and sexual exploitation of children. Meanwhile, in 2020, the National Police will take action against 2,968 cases of sexual violence against children.

Between August 2020 and August 2021, Kompolnas received 4,112 complaints. Of all the complaints, 79 percent were related to bad service. Most of them are about the handling of protracted cases. Furthermore, regarding the Letter of Notification of the Progress of Investigation Results (SP2HP). Many people report cases but the further progress of the case is not informed and often it is not processed.

Based on Article 3 Paragraph 5 of the Regulation of the Head of the National Police of the Republic of Indonesia Number 6 of 2019 concerning Investigation of Criminal Acts it states;

The Police Report consists of:

1. a police report made by a member of the Indonesian National Police who experienced, knows or found directly what happened; And

2. police reports made by members of the Police on reports received from the public.

If you report a crime, that includes number 2 and every report/complaint submitted to the police will be investigated. The series of investigations, namely examining the Reporting Party, witnesses, Reported Party and examining evidence related documents. Then through the case title it will be determined whether the report is a criminal act or not a criminal act (Article 9 paragraph 1). Reporters can find out about these processes or stages through SP2HP (Article 10 paragraph 5) Article 1 point 17 states "Notification of the Progress of Investigation Results, hereinafter abbreviated as SP2HP, is a letter of notification to the reporter/complainant regarding the results of the progress of the investigation". Through the SP2HP Online Service page, the complainant/complainant can find out and access SP2HP online by entering data in the form of:

1. LP number;

2. full name of the reporter;

3. date of birth of the complainant.

If there is no progress on the report, you can file a complaint or you can submit a complaint to the investigator's superiors and the official carrying out the investigative oversight function (article 36, article 37 and article 38 of Regulation of the Head of the National Police of the Republic of Indonesia Number 6 of 2019 concerning Investigation of Criminal Acts). But the fact is, as above, the report is deadlocked because it is often considered a lack of evidence.

Law enforcement officials always prioritize aspects of proving cases based on Visum et Repretum/VeR (a statement from an expert regarding the results of an examination of something based on their expertise. Problems related to proving cases of sexual violence:

Future Police Generations

That the facts have so far been related to the duties and functions of the police in handling cases, especially in this case. related to sexual violence is felt to be not optimal due to various factors such as lack of understanding and enthusiasm to increase this understanding.

The current generation of police officers is seen as not fully understanding the concept of law enforcement on sexual harassment. So the question is why this misunderstanding can occur when while studying, police candidates receive basic training in which there are lessons about gender. In the end, most cases of sexual violence just evaporate without resolution because they are considered to lack evidence or are resolved in restorative justice, aka through peaceful mediation. As in the form of settlement by the police in several cases, namely marrying victims of sexual harassment to perpetrators, what is a solution and a form of achieving true justice that is learned in educational units? Precisely the use of restorative justice in these circumstances is considered excessive and inappropriate. In the future, the police are expected to learn from other countries that have succeeded in enforcing the law in cases of sexual violence and the people feel safe in their law enforcers.

It is necessary to increase the generation of police who have a better understanding of law enforcement on sexual violence because in the future it will become a big concern for future generations so that police work is more sustainable and reduces negative stigma from society. This improvement can be started by adding depth to the subject matter related to the proper enforcement of the law on sexual violence in the curriculum of various types of police education units. The police should not take normative regulations for granted and there should be sharp critical analysis because they are the front line protecting society, but must think progressively because the main goal of law enforcement is to achieve objective justice. The police must be critical and use a progressive way of thinking which of course requires a process to generalize understanding of human resources spread across various regions in Indonesia, of course the police have a budget for education and socialization for their members. Don't let the public think that legal cases are being processed, waiting to go viral first and then being processed immediately. It is hoped that an increased understanding of sexual violence within the National Police can become the nawa ideal for the future National Police Chief, in which the current National Police Chief has succeeded in implementing nawa Cita in the traffic sector (removing offline ticketing and switching to the online system) and the current generation of police want to learn to better understand justice for victims of sexual violence as well as upholding appropriate laws against perpetrators of sexual violence.