Online Gender-Based Violence Topics

Chapter 1

• How common are online violence cases against women in Indonesia?

• What is the impact of online violence cases on women?

• Who are the most vulnerable groups?

Condition

According to SAFEnet data from 2018, the number of online violence continues to rise every year. This is influenced by many factors, one of which is that more people are willing to report. The lack of public education on digital rights makes people unaware that they are actually protected by existing legal instruments and can report specific forms of digital violence.

In the context of the workplace, especially in the post-pandemic condition, the increasing hybrid or online work contributes to the rise of GBV in the workplace. In a 2020 survey with SAFEnet, the majority of victims had been harassed across more than 2 communication technologies at once within a month of WFH. Thus, it can be said that there is no communication technology that is safe from sexual harassment as WFH tends to blur the boundaries between professional and private realms. Superiors reaching out via social media (under the guise of online communication), contacting outside working hours, etc. Furthermore, with the emergence of new work trends, such as Host Live Tiktok, Live Shopee, Content creator, etc., that face sexual violence while working, there is no platform ensuring they work in a safe environment.

Impact

The impact of online gender-based violence in the workplace varies, starting from threats of acts, as threats also cause psychological harm to workers, making them feel unsafe at work. Workers who experience GBV while working online feel excessive stress because they do not feel they have a safe place. Often they work from home. But they face that violence while being at home. The lack of knowledge about digital rights leaves WFH workers confused about what to do. From a 2020 survey, 94% of victims did not report to HRD because they did not believe HRD would side with the victims, some feared being ignored, not believed, or even blamed, which would affect their careers.

Perpetrators of online gender-based violence tend to act more at night, especially in the form of morphing and NCII. However, so far, there has been no service provider available to provide assistance 24 hours (counseling, etc.). Therefore, in such cases, GBV victims do not receive immediate assistance.

Vulnerable Groups

From SAFEnet surveys over the years, and NOP as well, young women still experience online violence more. Although currently, SAFEnet's research cannot ascertain whether women in the city are more vulnerable to GBV than women in smaller towns or vice versa. Logically, women in small villages experience less GBV simply because of less access to the internet and communication technology.

Workers in companies whose majority employees are men are more vulnerable to online violence. Workers with lower job positions tend to be more vulnerable to online violence. Most sexual violence perpetrators during WFH are superiors or senior colleagues.

LGBTQ+ groups are also highly vulnerable to experiencing more intense online violence, preventing victims from fully exercising their rights to self-expression in the digital realm. Not infrequently, GBV victims ultimately choose to refrain from using certain digital platforms as a result of the violence they experienced. Based on the experience of the CRM team, even in the management of LGBTQ+ organizations, netizens tend to attack queer women more than men, even though the women do not hold the highest positions.

Additionally, the Sejuk team's observation also noted a new trend of online violence against teenage girls through online games that have chat features. Girls are more vulnerable to verbal violence that leads to harassment, typically occurring when male users lose while playing. Complicating matters, many girls avoid GBV by using male usernames. Therefore, it cannot be ascertained whether the one perpetrating the violence is a boy or a girl using a male username.

Chapter 2

• What social norms in Indonesia actually exacerbate GBV cases against women?

• Are there any policies in Indonesia that present opportunities to prevent online violence?

Social Norms

One of the views is that women are seen as weaker and subordinate. While it may sound repetitive, the root of the problem indeed lies in the patriarchal culture that branches into gender biases.

Relating to religious interpretations that state women are more honored. Thus, if a woman "does not honor" herself, she is considered "deserving" of online violence. For example, some public figures who remove their hijabs are seen as "deserving" to receive criticism from the public. This causes GBV, especially online violence, to be more normalized in society.

Moreover, the phrase "women are always right" inversely reflects the patriarchal society that always seeks to blame women in cases of online violence. In viral infidelity cases on social media, the term "homewrecker" is often heard, and women invariably receive more online violence in the form of doxing and flaming.

The existence of rape culture that is still strong in Indonesia, and the culture of victim blaming that makes victims often reluctant to seek help and perpetrators feel unaccountable, thus GBV victims frequently experience revictimization.

In workplace cases, power relations become significant factors. Moreover, the norm that domestic burdens are solely borne by women plays a role. A working mother must think about where to leave her baby and with whom while working, and when she gets home, she has to tidy up the house again, not knowing what the woman has already endured at work or during commutes. Gender biases in the workplace that compel women workers to bear dual burdens of work and domestic responsibilities make women more vulnerable to online violence, including psychological and economic violence.

Policies

In the context of the workplace itself, last year the Ministry of Manpower issued Decree No. 88 of 2023, which comprehensively regulates the role of companies in prevention. Among other things, companies are required to regulate company policies concerning the prevention and handling of sexual violence at work clearly and in detail outlined in Employment Agreements, Company Regulations, or Collective Labor Agreements. Companies need to include information about sexual violence (education) in orientation programs, training, and worker education. Companies must establish a Task Force for the Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence. Only the implementation remains lacking in certain sectors.

Moreover, for GBV in the workplace, the ratification of ILO Convention 190 can also present an opportunity as it specifically considers workers' rights regardless of the work sector (formal or informal sectors) and work relationships (including contract workers, interns, volunteers, freelancers, or trainees).

As a legal umbrella for technology-based violence, the ITE Law has been amended but is not entirely a reliable reference as further derivative policies are needed. Additionally, there are still some vague articles that can be used against victims, such as Article 27 Paragraph 1.

The TPKS Bill itself serves as a good instrument to respond to sexual violence cases in general. So far, there have been 124 court decisions using the TPKS Law. Many cases have been registered for sexual violence, and it needs to be propelled to GBV. There is a need for legal instruments specifically addressing GBV cases, as conditions, forms, and handling methods are very different from direct sexual violence cases. Derivative policies must be developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Culture, Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Women Empowerment, and other related institutions.

Chapter 3

• What has been done thus far, and what challenges are faced in ongoing online violence prevention efforts?

• What is the funding situation for supportive organizations and service providers?

Challenges

For prevention, what SAFEnet has primarily been doing is literacy work. Because from the organization themselves, it can only be done so far for prevention. The major challenge lies in the hands of platform providers to improve their policies and features. What has been happening so far is that platform providers implement their CSR by funding organizations to conduct education related to platform usage, but not preventing from the side of platform features.

If TikTok recently invited Sejuk for collaboration, searching keywords that can be sanitized to maintain a safer digital environment. So when users comment containing keywords like "ugly" or other offensive terms, the comments will be automatically deleted. However, ultimately netizens still find ways to comment without directly using keywords, but at least it can be mitigated.

CRM also provides training related to safety & security in digital matters. But this is useless if platform providers (Google, Meta, etc.) do not take any actions. Additionally, what needs more education is about practical do’s and don’ts, like tips on changing passwords regularly in an memorable way, etc., which can be directly implemented by the public to protect their digital rights.

Never Okay Project conducts capacity building in companies. The challenge is reaching out to companies from various sectors. So far, multinational companies usually have a better awareness of these issues. The challenge is how we can enter other companies, which are predominantly male, and in informal sectors.

Funding

In general, the funding sources for prevention efforts mainly come from donors, and also from self-managed funds, social contracting. Government funding for this issue is still minimal.

Chapter 4

• What should be prioritized in the UN Women Indonesia Strategic Note regarding the prevention of violence against women?

UN Women can serve as a bridge to strengthen communication with stakeholders, namely the government, platform providers (Meta, Google Indonesia, etc.), and private sectors (companies). Continuing advocacy efforts, including Ratification of ILO Convention 190 as well as oversight of the implementation of Decree No. 88 of 2023. Collaboration with UNICEF can be done to run campaigns on digital practices for children and teenage girls, given the increasing internet usage among children and teenagers.