Disclose the Response, Protect the Person: Managing Information Transparency and Victim Privacy in Campus Sexual Violence Crises in Indonesian Higher Education

Abstract

Purpose: Universities facing sexual violence cases must answer public demands for transparency while protecting victims' identities and the integrity of investigations. This study examines how Indonesian universities manage information disclosure and privacy protection when such cases become institutional crises.

Design/Methodology/Approach: A qualitative case study drew on in-depth interviews with members of Sexual Violence Prevention and Handling Task Forces (Satgas PPKS), public relations (PR) officers and university leaders, together with observation and analysis of policies, press releases and institutional social media. Data were analysed thematically.

Findings: Universities practised a selective form of transparency: they disclosed institutional actions, procedures and commitments while withholding victim identities, testimonies and investigative details. Privacy was protected through identity confidentiality, restricted information flows during investigation, need-to-know access with confidentiality pledges, and coordination between the task force and PR. Virality on social media weakened institutional control over information and sharpened the trade-off between speed and verification. Two coordination patterns emerged: PR-led communication with task force support, and task force-led communication with PR oversight.

Originality/Value

The study reframes the transparency, privacy relationship as a matter of information governance rather than a zero-sum choice. It proposes a layered disclosure model that separates process transparency from case confidentiality and assigns disclosure decisions to clearly bounded roles, extending crisis communication theory to victim-centred crises in higher education.