Wrong to blame victims of sex abuse: NGO

PETALING JAYA: Women often get the blame for any wrongdoing, even if they are victims of such actions.

For instance, if a girl is sexually abused, she is accused of attracting attention to herself by being scantily dressed.

The latest example of this trend is the recent appearance of the “V2K” group on messaging service Telegram, that shares videos and pictures of women.

Five women, whose pictures have been shared on the app, have lodged police reports.

Many netizens raised questions about the victims’ attire and even said the women should have known this would happen if they posted their pictures on their public profiles. This, many agree, is a dangerous trend.

“Making the victim responsible for a wrongdoing against her will only deflects blame from the perpetrator, making them less likely to be accountable,” Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) deputy executive director Yu Ren Chung told theSun.

“This also becomes a tool for men to hold sway over women,” he added.

Similarly, he said any assumption that the victim was lucky nothing worse happened was wrong.

He cited a recent case of a Malaysian YouTube user known for discussing religious issues, but was caught possessing child porn.

“Anyone considering the thought that ‘at least he did not rape anyone’ should also know that possessing child porn is wrong in itself,” Yu said.

“A child cannot consent to participating in porn. Each time someone watches the video, it is a gross violation of the child’s privacy,” he added. This, he said, would also drive the production of porn.

“We must make it clear that the victims of sexual assault or abuse are never at fault,” he stressed.

“You (the victim) deserve to be yourself and live a life free from violence.”

He said anyone who needs help can approach the police, or contact WAO at 03-7956 3488, or send a message on WhatsApp at 018-9888 058.

Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman lecturer Dr Charanjit Kaur said arguments that the victim should be happy she was not raped promotes an immoral culture.

“It leads people to assume that it is acceptable to intrude on another person’s private space without consent,” she said.

“Disseminating personal photos and videos without consent is a crime. Doing it online is equally harmful. It denies women the right to use the digital space safely,” she said.

Unfortunately, Charanjit said victim-blaming is a generations-old culture.

“It is present in almost all social institutions, education, religion and family. They always have reasons to blame the victim based on societal norms,” she said.

“We inadvertently promote a culture of sexual abuse if victims are discouraged from speaking up, or if we fool survivors into thinking they made the wrong move. By being silent, we show that we believe gender-based violence is acceptable. It’s time we stopped that. We need to educate people about consent and to hold perpetrators accountable,” Charanjit added.