Criminal Law Protection for Victims of Physical Dating Violence in Gorontalo Province

Abstract

Victims of physical violence in dating relationships fall into a protection gap in Indonesian criminal law because the Elimination of Domestic Violence Law is limited to household relations, the Sexual Violence Crimes Law requires a sexual element, and Article 466 of the 2023 Criminal Code treats assault without regard to intimate relational context. This socio-legal study examines how protection operates in Gorontalo Province and identifies the normative and institutional weaknesses that impede victim recovery. It combines fourteen legal instruments and five court decisions with ten interviews, an eight-participant focus group, and observation at four institutions, analysed through the Miles–Huberman–Saldaña model and triangulation. Dating violence proves statistically invisible in registration systems, procedures are standardised but not differentiated for intimate-partner harm, and approximately 60–70 per cent of cases are resolved informally without risk assessment, independent accompaniment, enforceable agreements, or monitoring. Normatively, Article 470 of Law Number 1 of 2023 narrows relational aggravation, while Article 82 of Law Number 20 of 2025 leaves restorative-justice screening for power imbalance under-specified at the stages where most cases are resolved. The article sets out a victim-centred design reconciling restorative justice with victim safety through relational aggravation, coercive-control screening, enforceable recovery agreements, and post-case monitoring.