Sexual harassment that occurs in teenagers can also be a parent's fault

 By : Novita Wijianti

March 15, 2022

Why do many sexual harassment cases happen in adolescence? Why are teenagers often easy targets for sexual harassment?

            Sexual harassment is a common case that happens in Indonesia in this era, and these cases also happen among teenagers, the ministry of women’s empowerment and child protection have record 8.800 cases of sexual harassment happen in Indonesia from January until November 2021. This is pity because teenagers should have a good time for having fun with friends and time to grow up, not become a victim of sexual harassment. However, parents also need to take a role in educating teenagers, and many schools also give various education that can make their students have various knowledge, but parents and family is their first education that can make teenagers educated better.

            Parents are the important point in their children's education and also their children's protection, but many parents send their children that still can not take care of themselves and take responsibility for themselves to go to school far away. On the other hand, the perpetrator can be very free to do sexual harassment in a teenager who is not in their parental supervision, and far from their parents so no one knows what the perpetrator do with their victim. Therefore, underage teenagers are better off staying in the care of their parents to avoid acts of sexual abuse against teenagers.

            Underage teenagers are better off studying in a school where their parents can still supervise them. Educating children is something that is a requirement for parents. Some parents think that studying in boarding school while the children are growing can help them to be more independent and can take care of themselves. However, taking care and seeing children grow up under parental supervision is also important so parents can see the process of character development in their children. If the children study in a place far enough away from parental supervision, parents can not make sure that their children grow well in a good environment and also good friends.

            Entrusting a child to a stranger cannot ensure that bad things will happen to the child. In one of the boarding school in Bandung, a religion teacher do sexual harassment in 13 students and the ages of the victim are around 11-16 years old. From the cases, we can know even though he is a teacher who is believed to take care of many students in the school, the teacher did bad things to their students. Sexual harassment that happened to the victims is really bad because some of them have 9 children and these cases just found out after they have 9 children. So, it is not always good if children study in school that far from their parents and they are still teenagers, and it is better if parents always know their children's condition.

        The absence of their parents' position around them can cause them to be confused about the choices they will make. If teenagers who are still under 11- 16 years old become the victims of sexual harassment, how about their future? Traumatic, embarrassed, and scared are some of the things that will happen to the victims. Another thing that is also wrong is the victims are still silent after they are harassed by their teachers. Maybe, it is because they are still teenagers so they will be scared to report it, they can not take steps to report the perpetrator directly. Moreover, they are also confused, no older people around them, no parents so they will be really confused and scared with any choice that they will make to solve their problem.

            Teenagers are still unstable, they are still in the process of growing up so it is better if they still have parental supervision to make sure they grow up well and nothing bad happens in their growth process. If the children are independent enough, parents can send their children to study far from them. Teenagers are a good time to give more care to the children and educate them with a good education. Preventing sexual harassment from happening to teenagers is also something that parents must do by getting closer to them and also taking care of them. So, parental supervision is very important to ensure the safety and education of their children.

So how can the parents give their children parental supervision? If parents want their children to be safe, the best way is their parental supervision, so the parents can give anything that their children need, and can educate them. Because a teenager who is not under the supervision of their parents can be easy targets for sexual abusers. So, parents are really important for their children, their care affects everything about their child.

References :

Herry Wirawan: Indonesian teacher who raped 13 female students jailed for life. (2022, February 15). BBC News.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-60384652




Sexual violence eradication in Indonesia: The road ahead. (n.d.). Jakarta Globe. (2022, February 03).

https://jakartaglobe.id/opinion/sexual-violence-eradication-in-indonesia-the-road-ahead/




LaMotte, S. (2022, February 22). Sexual harassment and assault linked to high blood pressure in women, study says. CNN.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/22/health/sexual-trauma-high-blood-pressure-wellness/index.html




Kompas Cyber Media. (2021, December 12). Kekerasan Seksual Semakin Terkuak, APA Penyebabnya?Inikata Komnas Perempuan. KOMPAS.com.

https://www.kompas.com/sains/read/2021/12/12/130200423/kekerasan-seksual-semakin-terkuak-apa-penyebabnya-ini-kata-komnas?page=all




Indonesia, C. (2021, December 29). Marak Kekerasan Seksual Sepanjang 2021. CNN Indonesia.

https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20211223151929-20-737872/marak-kekerasan-seksual-sepanjang-2021