The Urgency of Law Perspective on Sexual Literacy in College Students as a Part of Sexual Violence Prevention

Abstract

Sexual violence is every form of sexual act that harms the safety, comfort, and sexuality rights of an individual. As a response, Indonesia has ratified repressive laws against sexual harassment, such as the Law on Sexual Violence Crimes Number 12 Year 2022. The government’s focus on repressive acts left a gap in preventive acts such as sexual literacy, defined as education on an individual’s reproductive rights and awareness of sexual violence. The research informs 50 college students from the ages of 18 to 25 in Indonesia on their opinions on the ineffective impact of the laws regarding sexual harassment that have been passed by the government. Using mixed-method research that collects quantitative data through a questionnaire and qualitative data through interview. The aim of the research is to showcase the importance of sexual literacy as a preventive act against sexual violence. The research finds that respondents distrust the justice system even if they feel comfortable reporting sexual violence when it occurs due to the discriminative responses from police forces. Though respondents agreed of the importance of sexual literacy, the lack of formal education makes college students search for information on the internet which is highly uncensored, unregulated and informal.