GEORGE TOWN – It’s not every day that we see the government and NGOs being on the same page on any issue.
But when it comes to the issue of a 17-year-old girl who highlighted the case of her schoolteacher allegedly making “rape jokes” in class and thereafter receiving a rape threat, both parties have agreed to rally behind the teenager.
Their support was announced at a round table press conference organised by Penang women, family development, gender inclusiveness and non-Muslim affairs executive councillor Chong Eng and Penang Women’s Development Council (PWDC) today.
The NGOs who were alongside the state government to make school a safer place included the Women’s Centre for Change (WCC) and Agape Counselling Centre Penang.
According to Chong Eng, the incident is a result of women who are underrepresented, especially at decision-making levels.
“According to the police, a total of 1,721 reports of sexual crimes committed against children were received between January and June 2020.
“This includes rape, incest, sex against the order of nature, and molestation.
“The data works out to be an average of 9.5 reports per day but there are many more that go unreported.
“This is a staggering number of only reported cases. Still, many go unreported,” she said.
The exco also highlighted that societal attitude towards a rape victim, which society tends to blame, is the reason why these episodes still occur, despite it being addressed many times.
The social stigma associated with shame and loss of honour also prevents the victim and the family from reporting the crime to the police and seeking justice for it.
“What we see happening in schools is a direct reflection of our society.
“Thus, it is detrimental if our society does not take such gender-based violence seriously or turn a deaf ear on this.
“This raises grave concerns for social development in our country as we had to entrust the development of our children with educators exhibiting misogynistic mindsets.
“How can our children grow and develop in such a toxic environment?
“How can we build a future generation which has a gender-inclusive mindset, so that no one is left behind?
“We, the society, have to take responsibility for this,” she said.
She said the state government has taken action to protect women by having 40 first support points set up around the state.
“Penang is also working on the Top-Up Women-Only Additional Seats (TWOAS) to increase women’s representation in the state legislative assembly.
“This ensures that at least 30% of women state assembly persons are all equipped with gender knowledge as the gender advocacy workshop is a requirement,” she added.
WCC programme director Karen Lai said that they have been working against rape for 35 years.
In 2020, the NGO handled 83 cases of sexual violence with 66% involving children below the age of 18, most of them girls.
“I want to highlight that there is something called rape culture in our society, and it is comprised of many things including treating the victim as the perpetrator, sexual objectification of women’s bodies and in this case, trivialising the issue of rape.
“You can have the best laws in the world, you can have the best courts in the world, but if your culture allows this to go on in the schools, what hope is there for our children?
“We would like to call upon the Education Ministry to speak up and condemn this outrageous behaviour on the part of one of their personnel,” she said.
Meanwhile, Pengkalan Kota assemblyman Daniel Gooi also condemned the cyberattacks against the said student for her video interview with Malaysiakini yesterday evening.
“There were people who used words to harass her, describing her body. We stand in solidarity with her, not only because of what happened to her but also the cyberbullying she is getting now,” he said.
Berapit assemblyman Heng Lee Lee questioned the Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rina Harun and Education Minister Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin for keeping mum on the issue.
Both ministers said they reserved their comments as the case was under police investigation.
“I don’t understand why they cannot comment. Maybe they don’t know how to comment.
“In that case, if they don’t know how to protect women, children, the elderly and those who need help, they can actually learn from the Penang state government because we have already set a good example for them,” she said.
Penang councillor Nor Afni Md Yusuff applauded the victim’s father for being supportive and allowing her to speak up.
“It is not easy to speak up because her schoolteachers, even her religious schoolteacher, is smearing her name to other students.
“A schoolteacher should protect students, not encourage the same behaviour,” she said.
PWDC CEO Ong Bee Leng added that the press conference was not just to lend support to the victim but to take action.
“We have been talking about this for a long time, this is not the first time we have seen such things.
“We hope that this case will be a national movement, we want to build the momentum because it is not only happening in schools, but also in our society.
“If you see it, call it out, if you are a victim, speak out,” she said, adding that a 17-year-old minor speaking out against such acts reflects a positive change in society.
She called for the Education Ministry to carry out reforms on the syllabus for the teachers. “If there is no change, nothing happens.” – The Vibes, April 28, 2021
