Project report
Mitigating the Impact of Violence Against Children in Pondok Pesantren in East Java: Strengthening Human Resources in Anticipating Child Abuse
Titik Triwulan Tutik, Agus Aditoni, Zainatul Ilmiyah ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This community service project worked with Islamic boarding schools (pondok pesantren) in East Java, Indonesia to reduce violence against children. Staff at 16 schools across three regencies participated in discussions and workshops to improve their ability to detect and prevent child abuse. The project found that raising awareness among school leaders and teachers, training them to spot warning signs early, creating clear procedures, and involving multiple stakeholders are important steps to protect children in these settings.
Key points
- 55 participants from 16 pesantren in Malang, Kediri, and Blitar regencies attended capacity-building activities
- Cases of neglect, psychological abuse, and physical violence have been documented in Indonesian pesantren with limited reporting systems
- Key strategies identified: increasing staff awareness, training in early detection of abuse, establishing standard operating procedures, and multi-stakeholder collaboration
- Participants included school leaders (kiai, pengasuh, managers), teachers (ustadz, ustadzah), and student mentors
- Activities used Focus Group Discussions, interviews, deliberative forums, and dialogic workshops as methods
Limitations
The document describes a capacity-building project but does not report measured outcomes or evaluate whether violence against children actually decreased after implementation. It does not compare schools that received the intervention with those that did not, so we cannot determine whether the activities changed behaviour or reduced abuse.
Abstract
Violence against children remains a critical global issue with significant social, psychological, and legal implications for educational institutions. In Indonesia, Islamic boarding schools (pondok pesantren) face increasing scrutiny as cases of neglect, psychological abuse, and physical violence emerge amidst limited supervisory and reporting mechanisms. This community service project (pengabdian kepada masyarakat) aims to strengthen the awareness and capacity of pesantren human resources (HR)—including kiai, pengasuh, school managers, ustadz, and ustadzah (teachers), as well as student mentors—to anticipate and mitigate child abuse within educational environments. Activities were conducted in Malang, Kediri, and Blitar Regencies through Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), interviews, deliberative forums, and dialogic workshops. In Malang, 25 participants from 11 pesantren across five sub-districts participated, while in Kediri–Blitar, 30 participants from five sub-districts attended the sessions. This article presents the conceptual framework, methodological approach, empirical findings, and implications for institutional strengthening. The study concludes that increasing HR awareness, training in early detection, establishment of standard operating procedures (SOPs), and multi-stakeholder collaboration are essential strategies for mitigating violence against children in pesantren.