KUALA LUMPUR – A group of women’s NGOs have criticised National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Harry Tan for opposing the National School Walkout Day (NSWD) to raise awareness about rampant sexual harassment in local schools.
They accused him of issuing ignorant statements on complaints of sexual harassment in schools.
However, Tan today issued a statement over his remarks, explaining that most teachers in schools are not involved in such harassment.
“Please accept my sincere apology. Neither I nor the NUTP would ever support any teacher who perpetrates the systemic nature of sexual harassment, rape, and abuse in schools.
“The point I was trying to make was that the majority of the country’s 450,000 teachers are dedicated, hard-working, and caring educators.
“Unfortunately, that did not come across clearly,” he said.
Similarly, NUTP president Aminuddin Awang made it clear that the union does not support sexual harassment in schools but qualified his statement by saying that all teachers should not be blamed.
Despite the sudden surge in interest and complaints about the issue of sexual violation, Tan had earlier said that the NSWD disrespects the 450,000 teachers in Malaysia as it portrays teaching professionals as those who lurk around, harm students and crack rape jokes.
In a joint statement, the NGOs blamed Tan for refusing to understand the aim of the national walkout.
“Whilst we agree with Tan in that not all teachers are perpetrators, he refuses to understand that NSWD aims to raise public awareness of the systemic nature of sexual harassment, rape and abuse in schools.
“It also gives voice to survivors and other civil society stakeholders alike to demand change.
“Many teachers are non-perpetrators but practice silence and inaction, instead of immediately reporting the teachers who were perpetrators,” the statement read.
It was endorsed by the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality, Bulan Sisters and Pertubuhan Pembangunan Kendiri Wanita dan Gadis.
Additionally, the NGOs also pointed out that Tan’s statement which cast doubt if sexual harassment, period spot checks, and rape is indeed a widespread problem, to which he later requested for statistics.
The NGOs contended that by questioning if such conduct is widespread, it allows these situations to breed in silence, instead of creating policies that protect minors.
“This also brings to light the concerning lack of understanding amongst some in the teaching profession about the issue of sexual harassment, which comes hand in hand with the challenge of under-reporting amongst survivors due to fear of reprisal, insensitivity by figures of authority, especially the immediate reaction of disbelief (as aptly portrayed by Tan), and a lack of survivor-centric redress mechanisms,” the statement read.
It was also pointed out that between 2013 and 2017, the police recorded a total of 1,218 sexual harassment cases, which does not correlate to YouGov Omnibus’ study in 2019 which suggested that one in three women in the country have experienced sexual harassment.
“Victim-blaming remains a significant socio-cultural barrier, whereby survivors’ voices are suppressed because they are often blamed for the sexual harassment incident instead of the perpetrator.
“Judging existing data as ‘inadequate’ to evaluate whether the culture of sexual harassment and rape in schools is widespread, discounts the weight of stories shared by survivors online and offline,” the statement added.
Tan had made the statement on Astro Awani’s ‘Consider This’ programme on Wednesday when he voiced his opposition to NSWD. – The Vibes, May 7, 2021
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