I hereby strongly call for everyone to play a critical role in creating a positive social support for victims of rape and sexual assault. Recently, a girl was reported to be sexually assaulted by her stepfather since April 2016. She was only 12 years old when the first incident occurred. Then in another case on 12 October, a 20-year-old young woman was found to be raped by her father’s friend, since August 2019. Rape and sexual assault occur worldwide regardless race, ethnicity, economic status, location and dress code. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), sexual assault is an aggressive act and is motivated by power and control. The studies of the American Journal of Psychiatry in understanding the rapist’s behaviour, found that the offenses can be classified as power rape or anger rape. The studies also showed that there was no rape in which sex was the dominant issue, as the sexuality was always in the service of other non-sexual needs.
It is unimaginable how it must have felt for the victim to be violated and sexually assaulted by someone she and her family trusted or acquainted. Cases such as these are not something new because when it comes to sexual assault, most people in the society will emphasize on stranger danger rather than acknowledging the danger that lurks within their close circle. According to PDRM’s statistics in 2015, 39% of sexual assault perpetrators were the victim’s acquaintances compared to 15% that was stranger. The relationship with sexual assaults for the remaining 46% reported to be family members (10%), boyfriend (32%) and others (4%).
Thus, it is important for us to raise awareness to young girls about the autonomy of their body- My Body, My Right! In order for them to be able to say no when they are coerced or forced to have sex with anyone without their consent, as it is a criminal offense under Penal Code Section 376, Child Act 2001 and Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017. In line with the Penang State Government’s commitment to protect and promote the wellbeing of children, the Body Safety Education was initiated and a free e-book with full details regarding Body Safety Education is available online (http://www.bodysafety.com.my). I believe that if more people are concerned about body safety education, we will be able to educate our children to protect themselves from unwanted danger.
In order to create a positive environment for victims to access justice, the first step is to believe them when the disclosure happens. It is important for the victim to be supported, especially by their families, and encouraged to lodge a police report so that the sexual violence can be stopped and avoid further victimisation. Studies from National Sexual Violence Research Centre showed that, in United States, rape is the most under-reported cases, with 63% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police.
In a nutshell, I strongly believe that positive public support will indirectly empower the victim to report the assault as that most victims avoid lodging a police report due to fear of being blamed for the assault and the stigmatisation on sexual assault victims by society. I strongly urged individuals and the public to lend support to victims and survivals of sexual assaults instead of being judgemental on their pains and suffering.