PETALING JAYA: The #MeToo movement, which ignited a wave among women globally calling out their sexual harassers, seems to have had an impact in the country as well, based on an analysis of the number of social media postings by Malaysians on the subject.
Since the beginning of this year, 222 posts or stories were recounted by victims, mostly on Twitter, about their traumatising experience or how they faced sexual harassment in the past, often committed by those whom they knew or trusted.
The numbers are believed to be higher as stories by victims who confided in others were also posted online.
However, these posts could not be recorded due to tracking limitations. Furthermore, some of the posts were deleted later.
The Star’s analysis on conversations of sexual harassment and abuse on social media was done using a social media listening tool software which employs a keyword tracker to record mentions of "rape","sexual harassment" and "sexual abuse".
This generated 112,474 posts (not including retweets or shares) which had used the keywords from the past two years, with a significant peak of 8,806 posts on the topic recorded in June 2020 alone.
Out of the total in the same month, 105 mentions were identified to be have been made by alleged victims.The number of personal stories on social media surged after a woman named the person who had sexually harassed her.
This led to others coming forward with accounts of being recorded during sexual acts, being asked for nude photographs or forced into sexual acts, among others.
Those who had named their perpetrators said they were doing so to protect other women from going through a similar experience.
The phrase "Me Too" was first used on the social media platform Myspace in 2006 by activist Tarana Burke who wanted to empower women to call out sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace.
It gained momentum in 2017 following sexual abuse reports against Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein.
In Malaysia, many sexual harassment victims stated that their fear of repercussion, shame, lack of support and negative stories about encounters with the authorities or healthcare personnel were some of the reasons why they refrained from reporting their case.
Others indicated that the stories shared online had made them realised that what they previously went through had constituted sexual harassment or abuse.
University Malaya Specialist Centre consultant psychiatrist Assoc Prof Dr Amer Siddiq Amer Nordin believed the support that the victims received from the online community was one of the main factors driving more people to turn to social media to tell their stories.
"They feel braver in numbers; when one starts, others will follow," he said.
Dr Amer explained that many of the victims might not have fully understood their emotions after being assaulted or harassed until they came across similar accounts, which could validate their understanding of their own situation.
Although he cautioned that some of the stories might not be 100% as stated, he said that "if many are sharing, it is a signal something is really happening".
Dr Amer said victims would likely be stressed out, depressed or suffer from anxiety.
Some could even develop symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Women's Centre for Change (WCC) programme director Karen Lai encouraged victims of sexual violence to make police reports to trigger the first point of formal criminal justice system as she was of the view that many cases might be unreported.
READ ALSO: INTERACTIVE: Victims urged to report sex crimes
Without a police report, she said no investigation and charge could be done for the case.
"If you don't report to the police, there will no investigation, no charge by the deputy public prosecutor, no trial and no sentencing."
In 2018, out of the 1,343 rape cases reported to the police, about 80% (1,071) involved victims below the age of 18.Lai said victims were welcome to approach NGOs that could advise them on their next course of action and support them emotionally, as well as in court, if they choose the route.
"The other dimension that is very important is the support for survivors to make sure that they have a safe environment to speak out and that they heal," she said.
Lai noted that victims of sexual crime could refer to a "Survivors Resource" website created by online activists with the intention to direct help and information to those who are in need.
Lawyer Srividhya Ganapathy warned against sexual assault victims going on social media to name perpetrators, especially if there is a lack of evidence to support the claims as the person risks being liable for defamation.
“Whatever you write on social media stays there and it can really destroy lives.
“The defence to defamation is that the person can prove that what they are saying is the truth or the comments are justified, ” she said.
Srividhya also noted that it would be harder to present substantial proof in court if the particular incident happened many years ago.
She advised victims to immediately document or report incidents of sexual abuse or harassment so that the perpetrators could be brought to justice.
"We also need a comprehensive sexual and reproductive education in schools to ensure that boys and girls are taught to respect each other’s bodies; what is acceptable conduct and what is not," she said, adding that survivors, too, should be provided with support mechanisms.
Perpetrators can be charged under Section 376 and subsections under Section 377 of the Penal Code for sexual crimes, which provides imprisonment and whipping if found guilty.
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