Dating Violence Among University Students in Indonesia: Help-Seeking Communication Strategies and Barriers to Disclosure

Indonesia is experiencing a rise in dating violence (DV) in the last 5 years. The Indonesian Ministry of Education has issued a regulation for violence prevention and handling in higher education institutions to protect the academic community from all forms of sexual violence through the Regulation No. 30 of 2021 concerning Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence. This was later changed to the Regulation number 55 of 2024 concerning Handling Violence in Higher Education Environments. Research, however, suggests that adolescents and emerging adults often prefer turning to informal sources of support for help rather than formal resources such as health professionals or university officials. This study seeks to identify the prevalence of DV among university students in Indonesia and to document their strategies to communicate their need for help, both formally and informally. A survey of 315 university students in Indonesia was conducted using a modified version of the Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory (CADRI). Findings show that: 1) Emotional and verbal aggressions are more prevalent than other forms of DV; 2) The type of DV experienced influences the perception of DV normalcy; 3) The type of DV experienced does not influence the self-perception of DV victimisation. Rather, high levels of DV and its consequences are the reason for disclosure; 4) There is a statistically significant correlation between formal disclosure and the level of emotional and verbal aggression; 5) The majority of respondents are satisfied with the support they received from their chosen source of support. Both formal and informal channels result in the same level of satisfaction.