Indonesian Trains Will Blacklist Sexual Harassers

Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), Indonesia’s state-owned railway company, announced on June 21 that it will now blacklist sexual harassers from using its services — a refreshingly bold policy move that may set a precedent for other service providers in the Southeast Asian country.

KAI’s announcement followed an incident of sexual harassment aboard one of its train services that was caught on camera and had gone viral on social media. “KAI is implementing this policy to give a deterrent effect and prevent perpetrators from doing the same thing in the future,” the company stated.

The incident was first brought to light on Twitter by user @Selasarabu_, whose video has now been viewed 2.6 million times on the platform. The clip showed the hand of another passenger slowly crossing the seat divider and attempting to slide below the poster’s thigh.

The poster, who identifies herself as Sela, had quickly messaged the train conductor and asked to be moved to a different seat — in Indonesia, train passengers are informed of their train conductors’ numbers in case of emergencies or inconveniences. She was swiftly accommodated and moved to a new seat.

As the video gained online traction and made headlines across the country, KAI quickly put out statements addressing the problem before issuing the new policy.

“KAI urges and supports victims to report incidents like this to law enforcement officers so that it can be followed up,” the company wrote in a tweet.

Under the new policy, any passenger caught committing sexual harassment will no longer be able to use KAI’s services, and the company will place them on a blacklist that would include personal details, including their ID number.

A 2018 survey conducted by the Coalition for Safe Public Space (KRPA), a coalition of civil society groups, and distributed to more than 62,000 people across Indonesia, showed that sexual harassment in the country occurred most often on the streets, at 28.2%, with public transportation coming second, at 15.7%.

Unfortunately, the inciting incident for this policy is hardly the first incident of harassment on Indonesian public transportation. A clip showing a man masturbating while onboard an intercity train service operated by Kereta Commuter Indonesia, a subsidiary of KAI, had also gone viral in early June but failed to elicit a policy change.

Olin Monteiro, an Indonesian feminist activist and film producer, said that many cases of sexual harassment in the country have remained unresolved for years.

“The majority of past sexual harassment cases are never resolved, and victims experience long-term trauma,” Monteiro told the FBomb.

“The most important thing that KAI must note is to ensure that there are clear regulations and protections to provide safety for train passengers,” she said, adding that this includes raising awareness through effective public messaging and educating the staff on matters related to sexual violence.

In April, the Indonesian parliament passed a landmark bill that would provide a legal framework for victims of sexual violence to seek justice. The bill came a decade after Komnas Perempuan (the National Commission on Violence Against Women) first proposed the legislation. Under the law, perpetrators of sexual harassment are punishable by up to four years in prison.

But Monteiro has doubts about the efficacy of the legislation.

“When it comes to making laws, the implementation is not as easy,” Monteiro told the FBomb. “It might take about one to two years, at the earliest, to see it being implemented with the technical rules laid out.”

Monteiro added that victims’ rights have historically been ignored in the country, and perpetrators have not always faced legal repercussions for their actions.

“From many experiences, the majority of past sexual harassment cases are never resolved, and victims experience long-term trauma,” Monteiro said.