Source: BPS (Statistics Indonesia), Criminal Statistics 2024/2025 (police records and the Susenas household survey)
Note: this article discusses sexual violence and violence against children. It presents data, handled with care.
There is one sentence I keep repeating in my statistics classes: “A total that falls can hide something that rises.” Indonesia’s Criminal Statistics 2024/2025 gives a sad but important example of it.
The total number of recorded crimes fell from 584,991 in 2023 to 561,993 in 2024. If we stopped there, we might feel relieved. But inside that total, some categories moved the opposite way, and they concern the most vulnerable groups.
Crimes against decency: the total went up
BPS notes that crimes against decency, as a whole, rose in 2024. The category covers four types: rape, sexual abuse (molestation), sexual violence, and sexual intercourse with a child. The breakdown:
| Type | 2023 | 2024 | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sexual intercourse with a child | 3,691 | 4,525 | up about 23% |
| Sexual violence | 1,410 | 1,861 | up about 32% |
| Sexual abuse (molestation) | 2,739 | 2,004 | down |
| Rape | 1,230 | 1,029 | down |
According to BPS, the rise in the total was driven by sharp increases in sexual intercourse with a child and in sexual violence. The regional police commands with the most cases in 2024 were North Sumatra (750), East Java (708), and South Sulawesi (608).
Domestic violence rose too
Among crimes causing physical injury, assault declined (from 51,106 to 48,622). Two other types went up, though: group assault (from 16,441 to 17,078) and domestic violence (from 10,783 to 11,524, up about 7%).
The other side of the data: who reports, and who does not?
The Susenas survey adds another view of vulnerability.
Women. Women made up about 37.84% of all crime victims in Susenas 2024, up from 36.83% a year earlier. BPS stresses that women tend to face different kinds of crime, especially sexual and domestic violence, which is why gender-based analysis matters. When it comes to reporting violence, the share of female victims who went to the police rose from 38.10% to 41.21%, while for men it fell from 56.05% to 37.84%. In other words, in 2024 female victims reported more often than male victims, the reverse of 2023.
Children. Of all crime victims who reported, children were only 4.24% in 2024 (down from 7.08%). BPS points to possible reasons: limited knowledge of their legal rights, dependence on adults, and fear of perpetrators who may be people close to them. It cites UNICEF’s finding that most violence against children goes unreported because it happens within the family or at school.
People with disabilities. The share of crime victims with disabilities rose from 1.70% to 1.78%, and BPS cites UNODC’s observation that people with disabilities are more vulnerable to violence and exploitation.
How should we read these increases?
This is where care is needed. There are two broad explanations. They are not mutually exclusive, and registered crime figures alone cannot tell them apart:
First possibility: incidents really did increase. That is bad news, and it calls for stronger prevention.
Second possibility: reporting improved. Sexual crimes and domestic violence have a very large “dark figure”, because victims are often afraid, ashamed, or dependent on the perpetrator. If complaint services become easier to reach, victims grow braver, and officers respond better, the number of recorded cases will rise even if actual incidents do not. Indonesia has Law No. 12 of 2022 on Sexual Violence Crimes, meant to strengthen victim protection and the prosecution of perpetrators, and BPS mentions it in this context. Whether the law affected reporting in 2024 is a reasonable hypothesis, but it needs to be tested, not assumed.
The most responsible stance: take both seriously. If reporting improved, that is a good sign, but it means a long-hidden problem is only now becoming visible. If incidents rose, the urgency is even higher. Either way, the message is the same: protection and recovery for victims must be strengthened.
What this means for how we read and talk about this data
First, do not use the numbers for sensationalism. This topic involves real victims, often children. Avoid exaggerated headlines, and present the context (such as reporting effects) alongside the figures.
Second, mind the unit of analysis. Police data count incidents, not victims. One incident can involve several victims, and one victim can experience more than one incident.
Third, do not infer causes from aggregate data. A rising number does not explain why. Causes need deeper qualitative and quantitative research: offender patterns, locations, family and environmental risk factors, and how well protection services work.
Fourth, remember the victims behind the numbers. Every figure in the table is a person. Good statistics are not an excuse to distance ourselves from humanity; they are a tool to make policy reach those who need it most.
If you or someone around you needs help
If you know of or are experiencing violence against women or children in Indonesia, official complaint services such as SAPA 129 from the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, as well as local service providers in your area, can be the first door to support. In an emergency, contact local authorities.
A closing note for researchers
This topic needs more careful and ethical research: multi-year trend analysis, separating reporting effects from incidence effects, evaluating protection services, and studies that involve victims with strict privacy safeguards. If you are considering this topic for a thesis or dissertation, make research ethics and respondent protection part of the design from the start.
From data to prevention: what can be done?
Descriptive data like this does not explain causes, but it helps choose a direction. Evidence-based prevention of violence against children and women generally works on several levels. In the family: positive parenting and support for vulnerable households. In schools: age-appropriate education about the body, boundaries, and how to report, plus teachers who know how to respond. In the community: safe, easy complaint channels and attentive community leaders. In the system: integrated services for victims (medical, psychological, legal) so that reporting does not mean an exhausting process. Every program needs clear evaluation indicators, such as changes in reporting rates, service response times, and survivor satisfaction, not just the number of activities held.
Ethics in reporting and writing about data
For anyone presenting this data, here are the principles I hold to. Do not name victims or give clues that could identify them, especially children. Avoid language that blames victims or normalizes violence. Do not use numbers as a tool for sensation. Include information about support services. And explain that rising numbers may also mean more people dare to report, without using that as a reason to downplay the problem. Data about children and women demands more care than data on property crime, because behind it are deeply vulnerable people.
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