"The road was quiet with only palm trees around and it was just two of us in his car when he began to caress my thigh and slip his hand under my bottom. I didn't fight back because I was so scared. I could be killed. I didn't want to die in vain," said a student from a state university in Sumatra, recalling her story of sexual abuse at the hands of her lecturer, while on a field trip with him to do research.
Her story is among 174 stories from survivors which reveal that sexual harassment and abuse on campuses in Indonesia are widespread in 29 cities from the western to eastern parts of Indonesia, encompassing 79 state, private and religion-based universities.
The cities include Serang and Tangerang in Banten, Medan in North Sumatra, Makassar in South Sulawesi and Malang in East Java.
Many of the cases were not reported and those that were are mostly unresolved.
From Feb 13 to March 28, The Jakarta Post, Tirto.id and Vice Indonesia, working in collaboration on a project called #NamaBaikKampus (CampusReputation), received 207 testimonies, of which 174 were alleged cases of sexual harassment.
In one university, an undergraduate reported that she was sexually assaulted by a fellow student, while at another campus, students testified that they were harassed by a male lecturer.
The National Commission on Violence against Women said sexual abuse reports were usually the tip of the iceberg, more reports meaning more survivors speaking up.
Most of the survivors were female students at the time of the alleged abuse, with seven being male.
Data compiled from their testimonies showed that 50 per cent of the survivors said they had experienced sexual harassment multiple times, while the other 50 per cent said it happened only once.
They were harassed on and off campus by students and lecturers.
Some survivors also reported being verbally harassed.
A student at a Catholic university in West Java said a lecturer made a "joke" about susu, which can mean either milk or breasts, while pointing at her breasts in front of her friend and another lecturer.
Of 174 survivors who shared their stories, 87 said they did not report the harassment to the authorities.
Most campuses do not have any known procedure to help survivors report their cases.
The Research, Technology and Higher Education Ministry's director-general of learning and student affairs, Mr Ismunandar, said that universities in Indonesia were autonomous entities and such sexual abuse cases should be handled by each individual institution.
Some of the survivors also did not report their cases because they suspected that university officials would care more about the university's reputation.
• This story was originally published on April 29.
