By: Prasetyo Aditya
The day before the commemoration of National Santri Day, on Saturday, October 21 2023, Umah Ramah collaborated with Kopi Satu Visi to hold a book discussion entitled “Bahaya Laten Kekerasan Seksual: Hasil Penelitian dan Refleksi Umah Ramah atas Seksualitas, Kespro, dan Kekerasan Seksual di Pesantren.” (Latent Dangers of Sexual Violence: Research Results and Umah Ramah’s Reflections on Sexuality, Reproductive Health and Sexual Violence in Islamic Boarding Schools).
As the title suggests, the book with the cover picture of an iceberg with a blue background, which was published in April 2022, tells stories about various phenomena of sexuality and sexual violence in Islamic boarding schools that were experienced and/or witnessed by each author.
Under the dim lights of the Kopi Satu Visi coffee shop, dozens of young people sat in a circle to share their experiences, knowledge and concerns regarding the phenomenon of sexual violence in Islamic boarding schools.
The discussion became interesting because most of the participants had received their education at Islamic boarding schools. According to them, what is written in the book published by Umah Ramah is very relevant to what they have experienced and/or witnessed.
When viewed from the perspective of morality or spiritual piety, of course the phenomenon of sexual violence in Islamic boarding schools is a paradoxical and confusing matter.
How is it possible in a community that studies religious knowledge daily there occurs sexual violence? But in fact, this is what often happens. Such reality exists, and it is difficult to deny.
Apparently, there are many things behind sexual violence in Islamic boarding schools, and perhaps in many other places; including factors such as power relations, normalization of violence, and studies of sexuality which are still considered taboo to discuss.
These three factors are crucial. Of course, there are many other layers that contribute to perpetuating the phenomenon of sexual violence. But at least, these three factors were the main points in the discussion on that warm Sunday evening. []
This article was translated by Napol Riel.