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View all search resultsPredators in the classroom: We are leaving children defenseless
To restore broken public trust and shield children from institutional abuse, we must replace outdated taboos with mandatory classroom body literacy by embedding adolescent reproductive health education in school curricula.
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Students take a blood test on Oct. 28, 2025, during the government’s free health check (CKG) program at Pondok Pesantren Nida' Al-Qur'an Paladan, an Islamic boarding school in Temanggung, Central Java. (Antara/Anis Efizudin)
W
hy do the places most trusted to shape children’s future so often become the sites of their deepest trauma? This bitter question demands confrontation following the recent sexual violence case at Pondok Pesantren Ndolo Kusumo, an Islamic boarding school in Pati, Central Java.
For years the institution's founder, identified as Ashari, allegedly manipulated and abused female students under the guise of religious authority.
Instead of serving as the safe, enabling environments they are designed to be, too many classrooms are being transformed into hunting grounds.
The Religious Affairs Ministry quickly revoked the pesantren's license, but the damage was already done. Public trust had fractured long before the Ashari scandal broke in early May, worn down by a chronic history of similar child abuse cases across the country.
A December 2025 survey by the Alvara Research Center captured a stark collapse in parental confidence, revealing that 69 percent of families now fear violence and bullying when sending their children to pesantren, while nearly 62 percent harbor deep anxieties about sexual abuse occurring behind closed doors.
Hard data validate these fears. The 2024 National Women's Life Experience Survey (SPHPN) shatters any remaining illusions about educational sanctuaries in Indonesia. It reveals that the lifetime prevalence of physical and sexual violence committed by non-partners currently stands at 18.4 percent, outpacing intimate partner violence.
Most disturbingly, schools and university campuses have emerged as the most frequently reported locations where women experience physical violence by non-partners over their lifetime.
