Transgender Women Targeted in Mob Violence in Indonesia, Civil Society Groups Denounce

JAKARTA – A string of mob attacks targeting transgender women in Bogor, West Java, has sparked outrage among civil society groups, which blame a presidential regulation classifying LGBTQ culture as a national threat for justifying harassment and violence against the minority community. Over the past two months, at least 10 trans women have been subjected to three separate mob attacks in Bogor, according to Amnesty International Indonesia. Footage of the attacks has been circulating online, including a clip showing a group of men punching and kicking a trans woman, as she walked along a street in Bogor at night. The perpetrators also filmed themselves spraying what is believed to be a bottle of urine at the victim. These attacks were reportedly carried out under the banner of the so-called Bogor Bersih LGBTQ (Bogor free of LGBTQ) movement. Civil society groups have since denounced violence against LGBTQ individuals, particularly those with high visibility, such as transgender women. During a press conference hosted by the Indonesian Women’s Alliance (API) on Sunday, numerous civil groups urged the central government to revoke any discriminatory policies that could justify violent acts targeting the queer community. The alliance noted that similar attacks, as well as convoys displaying anti-LGBT banners, have also popped up into other cities, such as Palembang in South Sumatra and Serang in Banten. “There has been a sharp increase in hate speech and discrimination in health and education services in recent months, along with more persecution of LGBTQ people and advocates, worsened by the continued push to criminalize the community,” activist Riska Carolina of API told the press conference. LGBT individuals are not criminalized in most of Indonesia, though same-sex relations are illegal under sharia laws in Aceh. In October of last year, President Prabowo Subianto passed a 70-page presidential regulation on national defense policy which identifies “the promotion of LGBT culture” as a nonmilitary threat, alongside illegal trafficking, natural resource theft, terrorism, atheism and radicalism. This regulation has heightened the growing fear of criminalization among queer Indonesians, as lawmakers and religious groups have floated ideas to draft an anti-LGBT penal bill. “The Bogor attacks prove that such a discriminatory regulation can intensify violence against LGBTQ individuals, though targeted persecution and anti-queer campaigns had already begun before the [issuance of the presidential regulation],” Echa Waode, secretary-general of LGBTQ advocacy group Arus Pelangi said during the press conference. Arus Pelangi recorded 66 cases of violence targeting 97 members of the queer community throughout 2025, a 135-percent increase from the previous year. Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid described the attacks in Bogor as “clear persecution” that violates human rights, calling the government to ensure public safety without discrimination. Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai also condemned the attacks, saying the perpetrators should not use vigilante violence against the queer community. “These actions cannot be tolerated,” Pigai told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. “I urge the public not to resort to vigilantism.” He encouraged civil groups to file a report over violence targeting the LGBTQ community with his office, assuring that the government would assist with the legal proceedings. Bogor Mayor Dedie Rachim told the Post on Sunday that his administration has called on residents not to take any arbitrary actions against the queer community and instead to turn to Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) officers to “launch regular patrols to purge the social deviants”. ANN/The Jakarta Post