RECENTLY leaked screenshots of a lewd group chat among law students at the University of Indonesia (UI) have brought renewed attention to the prevalence of sexual violence in Indonesian universities.
Information about the group chat on messaging apps WhatsApp and Line first surfaced on April 12, when a new X account named “sampahfhui” (or “trash from UI law school”) posted several screenshots with the caption “students from UI Law School created a group where they harass women every day???”.
The post has since been shared more than 90,000 times.
The screenshots show obscene conversations about the physical attributes and anatomy of several female law students at UI, the country’s most prestigious university. In one exchange, the group members appear to joke about rape, saying that “silence means consent”.
The floodgates opened: Within days, more leaked screenshots involving students from other colleges engaging in crude banter made the rounds on social media.
Sexual violence has been a persistent issue on Indonesian campuses for decades. A landmark anti-sexual violence law enacted in 2022 allows for the prosecution of non-physical sexual harassment, which had previously not been considered a crime.
But criminal charges for sexual harassment have been rare.
Sondang Frishka Simanjuntak, a commissioner at the National Commission on Violence Against Women, said the root of the problem is a culture that still tolerates misogyny and violence against women.
“So even though there are new regulations, there is still a tendency to normalise sexual harassment. It’s not seen as something serious,” she said.
Following the circulation of the screenshots, UI’s law school held a townhall-style forum on Monday night.
Videos of the forum posted online by UI students show the 16 alleged members of the group chat being brought forward to apologise and facing a barrage of questions and recriminations.
The videos also show female students emotionally confronting the alleged perpetrators.
“You haven’t just hurt the victims. You have made everyone here feel unsafe on their own campus,” one student said.
“Are your apologies really genuine?” another student demanded. “If they are, why do they seem just like copy-pasted statements?”
At a press conference after that, Timotius Rajagukguk, a lawyer representing some of the victims, said at least 27 women were sexually harassed in the group chat, including seven female lecturers.
He added that some victims had already known about the existence of the group chat since 2025, but had not come forward as they feared their complaints would not be taken seriously.
UI student union deputy chair Fathimah Azzahrah said the student body was awaiting the university’s official response.
“It is ironic that a case of sexual violence as severe as this is normalised and perpetrated by those who should be most aware of the law,” she said, referring to the fact that the alleged perpetrators are law students.
In a statement on Wednesday, UI spokesman Erwin Agustian Panigoro said the university was conducting a comprehensive investigation into the allegations.
The victims are considering taking action, pending the university’s investigation.
The issue of sexual violence on campus gained some urgency in 2019, after a survey by the Ministry of Higher Education found that universities were the third most likely location for sexual violence, after the streets and public transportation.
In a 2020 survey by the Ministry of Education and Culture, 77% of lecturers said sexual violence had occurred on their campus. Among them, 63% had not reported the violence to university officials, citing fears of societal stigma.
The survey triggered the ministry to issue a 2021 regulation requiring all universities to form an anti-sexual violence taskforce.
In 2024, the ministry issued another regulation that widened the scope of the 2021 ruling to all forms of violence, including bullying and online harassment.
Frishka said universities must commit to strengthening their anti-sexual violence task force, adding that her commission had received complaints from task force members who said they were not getting enough support from university administrations.
“Sometimes, the perpetrators are top university officials, and they turn around and press charges against the victims,” she said.
“The formal legal process needs to be opened as wide as possible for victims who choose the criminal justice route, without administrative obstacles or pressure from the campus environment.” — The Straits Times/ANN
