Legal Literacy - Recently, Indonesian society was shocked by a case of alleged sexual harassment involving several law faculty students where campuses are supposed to be safe and inclusive spaces for the entire academic community to learn and grow.

Screenshots of group chats circulating on the internet show that women, especially female students and lecturers, are treated as sexual objects, jokes, and topics of conversation without guilt. The phrases "silence means consent" and "principle of rape" appear as views that are not only morally wrong but also have no scientific basis. Perpetrators often use these narratives as a form of rationalization to justify their actions and assuage guilt, both in the eyes of the law and society.

There was also one message that expressed concern that if the conversation was leaked, their career could be ruined. This raises concerns that sexual abusers are aware of their behavior, but choose to continue doing so.

Normalizing Sexual Violence in Private Conversations

Conversations in private digital groups can contain various forms of speech that lead to the normalization of sexual violence. These include rape jokes, victim blaming, veiled threats, and objectification of women's bodies. Sexual jokes that are repeatedly told in private spaces are often considered "harmless jokes" by perpetrators, even though they fall under the category of non-physical sexual harassment as defined in Law Number 12 of 2022 on the Crime of Sexual Violence.

Sexualized comments, jokes that objectify women as sexual objects, and verbally abusive conversations are clear examples of non-physical sexual violence. In the context of group chats, even though they are considered private, such acts are still categorized as sexual violence due to their nature, namely, the content of conversations that demean, harass, and objectify women as sexual objects. Sexual harassment can occur in both open and closed digital chat rooms. Sexual harassment is the most basic act in the rape culture pyramid. Harassment that is disguised as a joke and normalized contributes to more severe sexual violence.

To understand why this phenomenon occurs, we need to examine how rape culture works as a gradual accumulation. Rape culture normalizes, ignores, and ultimately legitimizes sexual violence through a layered process.

The normalization layer forms the foundation through behaviors that are often considered trivial or commonplace in society, such as sexist jokes, catcalling, and sexual comments that are considered harmless. This layer then progresses to the degradation stage, where one's dignity and autonomy are openly attacked through victim blaming, revenge porn, and psychological coercion. All of these behaviors eventually culminate in a layer of direct violence involving acts such as rape, sexual harassment, and murder of women. Tolerance of these lower-layer behaviors supports and justifies the upper-layer behaviors.

The conversations revealed in the digital chat group show that normalization and degradation occur simultaneously. Both do not occur separately or independently from acts of physical violence. It is through conversations like these that the mindset that justifies violence against women is maintained and reinforced. The argument that these conversations are merely "private fantasies" with no legal consequences ignores the real psychological and social impacts experienced by objectified women, regardless of whether they have seen the conversations or not. The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) emphasizes that the digital space is not a law-free space. Labeling such conversations as private is a subtle way of shifting the burden from the perpetrator to the victim, a form of "victim blaming."

This phenomenon is rooted in toxic masculinity, not as a deviant behavior of a particular individual, but as a mechanism that explains how rape culture is created from within. Toxic masculinity refers to a set of values taught explicitly or implicitly about the standards for being a "real man", namely dominating, showing no weakness, proving oneself through sexual status, and maintaining masculine solidarity even when that solidarity is built on the dehumanization of women. The chat group is not just a space for communication, but a proving ground for collective masculinity, where participating in the objectification of women is a way of showing that one belongs to the social circle.

Criminal Law Basis to Charge Perpetrators

Law Number 12 of 2022 on Criminal Acts of Sexual Violence (UU TPKS) provides a strong legal basis to take action against perpetrators of sexual violence, including those that occur in the digital space and are non-physical in nature. Article 4 paragraph (1) of the TPKS Law explicitly lists electronic-based sexual violence as one type of criminal offense of sexual violence. In addition, Article 5 of the TPKS Law regulates non-physical sexual harassment. The article reads: "Every person who commits non-physical sexual acts aimed at the body, sexual desires, and/or reproductive organs with the intention of degrading a person's dignity based on his/her sexuality and/or morality, shall be punished for non-physical sexual harassment, with a maximum imprisonment of 9 (nine) months and/or a maximum fine of Rp10,000,000.00 (ten million rupiah)."

Article 14 of the TPKS Law also regulates electronic-based sexual violence, which prohibits anyone without permission to record and/or take pictures or screenshots of an explicitly sexual nature without the knowledge or consent of the person who is the object of the recording, picture or screenshot. The penalty imposed is imprisonment for a maximum of 4 (four) years and/or a maximum fine of Rp200,000,000.00 (two hundred million rupiah). Online gender-based violence is clearly recognized and prohibited under the TPKS Law, both through Article 5 which regulates non-physical sexual harassment, and Article 14 which regulates sexual violence committed through electronic means. Perpetrators cannot hide behind the excuse of "just joking" because digital space is not a law-free space.

In addition to the TPKS Law, the alleged perpetrators can also be charged with the Electronic Information and Transaction Law (ITE Law). Article 27 paragraph (1) of the ITE Law regulates the prohibition of distributing, transmitting, or making accessible electronic information and/or electronic documents containing content that violates decency for public consumption. Transmission in this article is defined as sending electronic information and/or electronic documents addressed to other parties through an electronic system. Meanwhile, violating decency is defined as an act that shows nudity, genitals, and sexual activities that are contrary to the values prevailing in the community at the place and time the act is carried out.

Sanctions for violating this provision are regulated in Article 45 paragraph (1) of the ITE Law, which is a maximum imprisonment of 6 (six) years and/or a maximum fine of Rp1,000,000,000.00 (one billion rupiah). Thus, digital conversations that attack dignity based on sexuality or morality can be legally prosecuted under the ITE Law.

The new Criminal Code (KUHP), enacted through Law Number 1 of 2023, also regulates non-physical sexual harassment. Article 448 of the new Criminal Code regulates non-physical sexual harassment in public places, including those committed through electronic media. In addition, the concept of participation (deelneming) in the new Criminal Code, as set out in Articles 20 and 21, is relevant to determine the criminal liability of any participant in a group conversation, including those who are merely present and silent without intervening. Article 20 provides that any person shall be punished as a principal offender if he personally commits a criminal offense, orders another person to commit it, participates in committing it, or incites another person to commit a criminal offense. Article 21 provides that any person shall be punished as an accomplice to a criminal offense if he/she knowingly provides an opportunity, means, or information to commit a criminal offense, or provides assistance while a criminal offense is being committed.

The Challenge of Proving Criminal Liability from Private Conversations

One of the main challenges in handling cases of sexual violence in private chat groups is the status of these conversations as electronic evidence. Based on Article 5 of the Electronic Information and Transaction Law, electronic information and/or electronic documents and/or their printed copies are valid legal evidence. This is reinforced by Article 24 of the TPKS Law, which states that valid evidence in proving criminal acts of sexual violence consists of evidence as referred to in the criminal procedure law, other evidence in the form of electronic information and/or electronic documents as regulated in applicable laws and regulations, as well as physical evidence used to commit criminal acts or resulting from criminal acts of sexual violence.

However, the procedure to retrieve and authenticate screenshots as evidence requires proper protocols, including electronic forensic examination and expert testimony from digital forensic experts. Screenshots of group chats are strong evidence to criminally prosecute such cases, in addition to being supported by victim testimony, expert testimony, and digital forensic findings as stipulated in Article 24 of the GCTS Law.

There are some challenges in the evidentiary process relating to the space in which the messages are circulating, i.e. groups that are not open to the public and where there is no victim who is a member of the group (victimless crime). Sexual violence laws do not specify whether the act took place in a public or private space, what is important is to prove whether the dissemination of the harassing content actually took place and whether there has been a breach of decency.

Another challenge is the public disclosure of conversations. The focus should not be on who leaked the conversation, as this would obscure the substance of the alleged harassment. Once a case is uncovered and both the perpetrator and victim are identified, the next focus is on justice for both the victim and the perpetrator.

Article 14 of the GCTS Law, which regulates electronic sexual violence, is relatively new, so no court decisions have examined it in depth. The difference in interpretation between joking intentions and criminal acts poses challenges in the practice of proving cases.

Proving malicious intent in the context of private conversations is complicated, as it involves subjective assessments of the perpetrator's intentions. However, malicious intent is evident in these conversations. Creating a group, inviting like-minded people to harass, and collectively and consciously harassing demonstrates malicious intent to degrade women.

In addition, the criminal liability of each perpetrator, whether as an instigator, active perpetrator, or simply giving a reaction, must be carefully considered. The concept of participation (deelneming) in the Criminal Code serves as a legal instrument to determine whether a passive participant can be held criminally responsible. Under the doctrine of participation, anyone who participates in a criminal offense can be held criminally responsible, including those who intentionally provide opportunities or means for the criminal offense to occur by remaining in the group without providing resistance or reprimand.

Role of PPKS Task Force and Reporting Mechanism on Campus

Based on Ministerial Regulation Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Number 30 of 2021 concerning Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence (PPKS) in Higher Education, each university is required to establish a Task Force for the Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence (PPKS Task Force). The functions of the PPKS Task Force include receiving and following up reports from victims or witnesses, including screenshots of group chats, conducting internal investigations, and recommending administrative sanctions such as written warnings, suspensions, temporary expulsions, and permanent expulsions as students. The PPKS Task Force is also authorized to coordinate with law enforcement if criminal elements are found.

Campuses must prioritize victim recovery, with measures including the restoration of victims' rights in both academic and social aspects, the provision of psychological counseling and ongoing support, guarantees of protection from pressure, intimidation, or stigma, as well as strengthening safe spaces for victims and whistleblowers.

However, there are a number of obstacles at the campus level, including a culture of silence that discourages victims from reporting incidents, the task team's limited understanding of digital sexual violence, and pressure from the campus to resolve cases internally without involving the police to protect the institution's reputation. This is in line with the findings of various studies that show that campuses tend to ignore the issue of sexual violence for fear that it could damage the reputation of educational institutions that have been built.