SASH: Students Against Sexual Harassment

Stop blaming the rape victim

Rhysenn — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 19:28:54 +0000

Hey all, This is a letter I wrote to the Star that got published, in response to a letter which really ticked me off. Read her letter and judge for yourself.

Stop blaming it on rape victims

I AM writing in response to Sylvia Hsu-Chen Yip’s "Sexy dressing can be provocative" (The Star, Nov16). Her statement that rape victims who dress provocatively "asked for it" is an insensitive and outdated stereotype of why men rape.

Since the 70s, rape is no longer explained as a sexually motivated crime. Instead, rape is now generally accepted as an act of violence for men to gain power over women. However, current research indicates that rape is far too complex to be oversimplified either as an act of sex or an act of power.

Thus, until we have further proof, we should not inflict even more trauma on the rape victim by condemning her as the cause of the rape. Why is it that when a sexual crime is committed, attention is always paid first to the victim, not to the perpetrator?

Many do not excuse the wrongfulness of a man committing sexual crimes. Yet, the fact that the victim is scrutinised more than the perpetrator already puts the onus of the crime upon the victim. Rather than the perpetrator being judged, the victim is on trial instead.

Is this fair, considering the fact that we do not have concrete evidence regarding the role of a woman’s dress in sexual crimes? Why do we condemn a murderer so quickly, but yet ignore a rapist?

A further complication with blaming a woman’s "provocative" dressing for a rape is the definition of "provocative dressing" itself. What one man may consider provocative may not be considered so to another. Who then defines what provocative dressing is and what is not?

Instead of getting tangled up in such problems, perhaps we should focus our attention where it is due: the rapist. No matter how "tempted" he was, that does not excuse him from scarring a woman for life.

Stop blaming the victim. Without a perpetrator, there is no crime.

RK Boo, Kuala Lumpur.

Human Rights Essay Writing Competiti

Dahlia — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 13:37:05 +0000

Subject: Human Rights Essay Writing Competition

Warm greetings!

The Human Rights Committee of the Bar Council is happy to announce that it
will be holding a Human Rights essay-writing competition on the topic "Death
Penalty: Yes or No?"

The competition is open to all Malaysian who fall into any of the following
categories:

§ Undergraduates studying in a local public or private University/College
§ Persons enrolled in the CLP Program
§ Persons doing their chambering

The essay can be in either English or Malay but should not exceed 3,500
words in length. All entries should reach the Bar Council Secretariat by
31st January 2007.

Winners stand to win attractive cash prizes and a trophy.

Those who wish to participate should contact Mohd. Rezib at 03-20316367 or
rezib@malaysianbar.org.my to obtain a registration form and a reference
number.

Sexual stereotyping

Dahlia — Sun, 07 May 2006 04:48:05 +0000

Want to start a little discussion here.

I was at a talk the other day - one which I personally thought later on was really a male-apologist session. We listened to males complaints about females in relationships and were told males are really "more logical" and females "more emotional". Although the speaker went on to say, "it’s not a bad thing, it’s just the way we are", the context of the entire discussion certainly made me feel like being "emotional" was a bad thing.

But anyway, what really irked me was when the speaker started talking about having multiple partners - it’s not an equal world, she said, and promiscuous guys will be excused moe than promiscuous girls. Fair enough, I thought - my past experience had certainly told me it was not an equal world. But then the speaker went on to blast promiscuous girls - "I think girls like that really have no respect for their bodies." I could see some members of both sexes silently nodding, and I was wondering: what about guys who sleep around? Don’t they also not respect themselves?

The fact that guys were left out of that equation reinforces the double standard. Plus, I know quite a few girls who have multiple partners, and they’re very sassy ladies. They’re smart, and I respect them for the contributions they make to the world. If they choose to celebrate their sexuality by having multiple partners, why should we condemn them as not having respect for themselves?

To the floor now: what do YOU think?

That car horn

Dahlia — Sun, 07 May 2006 04:36:50 +0000

That little dude who toots his car horn at you. What do you do?

My little protest…

Dahlia — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 07:50:18 +0000

http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=13625

I was forced to strip in lock-up: 60-year-old housewife claims

B.Suresh Ram and Llew-Ann Phang

KUALA LUMPUR: A 60-year-old housewife has alleged that she was forced

to strip in a police station and walk around in circles three times in

front of two policewomen.

Lim Nee Cheng Pik Wai also alleged that the policewomen helped

themselves to some money in her handbag when she was in custody on

March 11.

"I have never felt so humiliated in my life … walking in the nude

with the policewomen laughing at me," she said in a media conference

held in Parliament House on March 30.

Lim’s ordeal began when she was taken to the police station after she

was detained by department store security guards over a

misunderstanding which has been settled amicably with the store

management on March 28.

In her police report lodged on March 29, Lim claimed she was

instructed to take out all her cash from her handbag and place them on

the table.

"Initially, one of the policewomen placed all the cash and coins into

a plastic bag. While counting the money, I saw her taking out several

notes and putting them in a drawer.

"She told me that it was her bribe money (duit rasuah). She said ‘bei

ngo yam cha’ (Cantonese for ‘give me tea money’).

"She also asked for my bank ATM card PIN number but I refused. She

said if I did not give the number, I would be made to do squats …

that’s when I was ordered to remove my jewellery and get into a

lock-up where I was told to strip."

Lim said her husband turned up at the station at 8pm to bail her out.

Her husband then asked the policewoman to return all the money but it

was short of RM209 (total RM469).

"The policewoman then said a police report would be made against him

(Lim’s husband)," she added.

MP Teresa Kok (DAP-Seputeh), who arranged for the press conference,

said: "I am quite perturbed by the strip procedures, despite

assurances from senior police officers that new guidelines had been

issued as the IGP’s Standing Order."

"With new body search guidelines, why is such abuse still happening?" she asked.

Kuala Lumpur deputy CPO SAC (I) Datuk Ahmad Baharin Idrus confirmed a

police report was lodged with the Dang Wangi police station.

"Investigations are in progress. So I will not be able to make any

comments on the matter," he said.

On March 3, IGP Tan Sri Bakri Omar announced police had produced their

own rules on conducting body searches "to protect the dignity and

pride" of suspects.

The IGP’s Standing Order on Code of Practices for Body Searches

requires the suspect to be practically attired during searches instead

of "partially dressed" as suggested by the Royal Commission on the

Police Force..

The order excluded recommendations that intimate searches could only

be done by a doctor or hospital assistant or registered nurse, acting

under the direction of a doctor and a requirement to obtain warrants

to conduct intimate searches.

Bakri confirmed that the document, which is being fine-tuned, would

contain guidelines for body searches and would take about three months

to be adopted.

Now everytime I see a cop, I grab my left earlobe with my right hand and my right earlobe with my left hand; I’ll keep doing it until abuse and corruption in the police force is wiped out.

SASH blog empowers students

Wee Yoon — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 15:05:27 +0000

By Chien Wee Yoon

PETALING JAYA- A team of five female students from different colleges has set up a blog named S.A.S.H. It stands for Students Against Sexual Harassment to encourage students to speak out against sexual harassment.

One of The Founder of the SASH blog, Dahlia Martin spoke to The Break during their blog launch at Monash University on 8th of March.

Due to the many cases of sexual harassment happening around school areas, Dahlia said the initial idea of the SASH blog is to show students how directly sexual harassment relates to their life.

"Sexual harassment affects people of all ages and what can we do to educate people more? We need people to be more aware about gender inequality." she said.

As there are many people experiencing sexual harassment and gender discrimination, SASH blog was established for people to discuss about women and gender issues.

Dahlia told The Break there are a lot of support services in the community to help victims against sexual harassment, but the options are limited.

Though there are codes of conduct in some companies that enable employees to take action for security purposes, there is a lack of laws pertaining to sexual harassment in Malaysia.

The SASH blog team believes society can act collectively to end sexual harassment by the most obvious thing: to end gender discrimination.

"We won’t have such thing as grouping gender roles anymore, if people generally respect each other regardless of gender", said Dahlia.

The administrator of SASH blog, Rachel Ng Koon Ling said the SASH blog function is to create a catalyst for students to help each in stopping sexual harassment.

They believe that most of the time it occurs in the workplace.

Rachel added that sexually harassed victims will feel psychological and physical trauma, and this will handicap them from doing anything including being friendly with other people.

The SASH blog team advises females that sexual harassment is not the victim’s fault.

They should feel free to ask for advice from support centers or click in to their site to obtain more information about the issue.

"If everyone put one step forward to bring up this unspoken topic and bring the issue into the open, people would tend to be more aware and cautious about sexual harassment", said Rachel.

The SASH blog team welcome readers to speak out against sexual harassment and their posts in the blog will be free from censorship.

For people who are interested to write to the SASH blog, their email is at my.sash@gmail.com and their website can be accessed at: http://sash.blogsome.com.

-Published in The Break, 27 March 2006, (Taylor’s College Petaling Jaya, students monthly laboratory newspaper)

Title IX

Dahlia — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 07:13:49 +0000

We need a Title IX in Malaysia…!

Boys will be boys

Dahlia — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 03:24:57 +0000

I think one of the worst things people can do for the male gender is make excuses for them. I remember, after having my butt grabbed in a museum when I was 14 or 15, listening to a male cousin remark: "You should be flattered someone would want to grab your butt." I issued another of my passionate arguments, and he appeared to have been won over (although he might have decided it wasn’t worth pursuing).

The attitude of resignation which so many seem to have adopted irks me, because I think it’s another method of excusing, as if to say: "It happens, live with it, try to look on the bright side". For instance, I was talking to a male friend the other day when he shared the story of how, when he was walking back from dinner with a female friend, some four or five mechanics working until late whistled at the female friend, called out to her and tooted their horns. He also revealed that while his friend tried to ignore the cat calls, he found it extremely funny and was laughing the entire time.

But then again, speaking out only seems to ask for trouble, doesn’t it? (Or at least that’s what so many of us are led to believe). Darren Kang was apparently beaten to death after confronting a bunch of youths who were said to have made degrading remarks about his girlfriend (there are, however, numerous versions of the story). A friend who was regarded as the ’slut’ in her school told me how, in the days after Kang’s murder, a teacher warned her not to bother fighting back the label: "You’ll just be asking for trouble, like Darren Kang." With attitudes like that influencing people, it should be no surprise then that Kang’s killers only got five years in jail; the judge admitted he had taken Kang’s behaviour into account when deciding the sentence.

"Don’t bother, it’s a small thing", "too much trouble for nothing big", and the classic "boys will be boys" line. Are we ever going to run out of excuses for this sense of entitlement we allow? It doesn’t surprise me that sexual harassment exists, since the dominant ideology seems to be "it’s a guy thing."

Dahlia

International Women’s Day

Dahlia — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 01:24:37 +0000

For International Women’s Day on 8 March, Rachel helped Dahlia set up a graffiti board for Monash University Malaysia students to write their thoughts relating to gender issues on. SASH also launched their website today, to a positive response. Below are pictures from the day.

General Guidelines

Yee Mun — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 12:43:53 +0000

What constitutes sexual harassment? It differs from one individual to another. Nonetheless, any of the following unsolicited behaviour is commonly considered sexual harassment:

leering

wolf whistles

discussion of one’s partner’s sexual inadequacies

sexual innuendo

comments about someone’s body

‘accidentally’ brushing sexual parts of the body

lewd & threatening letters

tales of sexual exploitation

graphic descriptions of pornography

pressure for dates

sexually explicit gestures

unwelcome touching and hugging

sexual sneak attacks, (e.g., grabbing breasts or buttocks )

sexist and insulting graffiti

inappropriate invitations (e.g., hot tub)

sexist jokes and cartoons

hostile put-downs of the either gender

public humiliation

obscene phone calls

inappropriate gifts (ex. lingerie)

hooting, sucking, lip-smacking, & animal noises

pressing or rubbing up against the victim

sexual assault

soliciting sexual services

stalking

leaning over , invading a person’s space

indecent exposure

More guidelines:

Sexual Harassment vs Flirting

feels bad feels good

one-sided reciprocal

feels unattractive feels attractive

is degrading is a compliment

feels powerless in control

power-based equality

negative touching positive touching

unwanted wanted

illegal legal

invading open

demeaning flattering

sad/angry happy

negative self-esteem positive self-esteem

From http://www.feminist.org/911/harasswhatdo.html

feels bad		feels good
one-sided		reciprocal
feels unattractive		feels attractive
is degrading		is a compliment
feels powerless		in control
power-based		equality
negative touching		positive touching
unwanted		wanted
illegal		legal
invading		open
demeaning		flattering
sad/angry		happy
negative self-esteem		positive self-esteem