Incestuous abuse of Indonesian girls: An exploratory study of media coverage

Incestuous abuse of Indonesian girls: An exploratory study of media coverage

This study examines the incestuous relationship cases in Indonesia. The purpose of this study was to find out the profile of the perpetrators and victims of incest, the incest relationship that occurred and the responses from the families to the known incestuous relationship in Indonesia. Data were obtained from 137 cases of incest for seven years (2010–2017) reported by a media outlet in Indonesia as well as from in-depth interviews with 14 informants in four cities in East Java, Indonesia, namely Kediri, Nganjuk, Gresik, and Surabaya. The main finding of this study is that most incest victims in Indonesia were young women aged 10–17 years (75%) and most incest perpetrators are their biological fathers or stepfathers (77%) who are on average >50 years old (31%). The cases of incest in this study mostly lasted in more than three years (28%), and experienced by poor (49%) and low educated families (31%). In addition, most cases of incest in Indonesia are known to the perpetrators' wives (9%) and the perpetrators' wives were also the most party who report the incest cases to the legal authorities (63%). The results of this study highlight the need for close attention to the incestuous relationship cases in Indonesia which might affects many young women and underage girls as the victims. The efforts to make policies and programs to prevent sexual violence in the family, by the government and non-government agencies, should take into account the conditions of the incest victims as well as the driving factors for the incest cases that take place in Indonesia.

Sociology and Political Science, Education, Developmental and Educational Psychology

Indonesian girls, Incest, Rape, Patriarchal, Superior, Subordinate, Father, Disguise, Sanction