As a state governed by the rule of law, Indonesia has an obligation to guarantee the
protection of human rights, including the protection of victims of sexual violence
crimes. Sexual violence constitutes a serious and complex crime that causes
multidimensional harm to victims and is characterized by an imbalance of power
relations between perpetrators and victims. Such conditions potentially place
victims in a vulnerable position to pressure when case resolution is conducted
outside the criminal justice process. The enactment of Law Number 12 of 2022 on
Sexual Violence Crimes explicitly prohibits the settlement of sexual violence cases
outside the criminal justice process, while simultaneously giving rise to debates
regarding the position and limitations of the application of the restorative justice
approach. The research problems addressed in this study concern the exclusion of
out-of-court settlement mechanisms in sexual violence crimes and the position and
limitations of the application of restorative justice. This research employs a
normative juridical legal research method using statutory and conceptual
approaches. The findings indicate that sexual violence cases cannot be resolved
outside the criminal justice process due to the risk of neglecting the protection of
victims’ rights arising from asymmetric power relations. Nevertheless, the
restorative justice approach remains permissible in a limited capacity as a victim
recovery mechanism, particularly through the fulfillment of victims’ rights and the
provision of restitution by perpetrators, without eliminating the criminal justice
process or the legal accountability of the perpetrators.