'Focus on sexual harassment, not race,' says UM student group

University of Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany) has urged the public to focus on addressing sexual harassment involving a professor rather than speculating about the race of those involved.

“I would like to say many people are misfocused about the issue when they are trying to talk about race instead of focusing on the sexual harassment issue the students are facing,” its president Lin Jeng Jet stated.

The controversy arose after the UM Feminism Club (UMFC) alleged that a professor had shared nude photographs of himself with students and had a history of sexual harassment allegations.

UMFC claimed the academician had been reported to the university multiple times, but no action was taken - allegedly due to his influential position within his department.

While the identities of both the victim and the professor remain undisclosed, public comments have been rife with speculation about their race and religion.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, Lin attributed this racial stereotyping tendency to a broader societal issue.

“I think it is due to citizens’ mentality nowadays that they like to allege things simply before the real facts are established,” he said.

Protest warning

Meanwhile, another UM student group, NewGen UM, has urged the university to launch a thorough and immediate investigation into the allegations.

The group called for the implicated professor to be suspended from all teaching and administrative duties during the investigation to safeguard students.

“The university must strictly enforce the anti-sexual harassment code of conduct instead of turning a blind eye,” NewGen UM emphasised.

It warned that should the university fail to act, it would consider taking further measures, including organising press conferences and protests, to ensure students’ rights are no longer ignored.

The group claimed that sexual harassment cases are not uncommon at UM and other public universities nationwide. It highlighted several root causes, including:

• Systemic power imbalances on campus which place students in an unjustly vulnerable position when dealing with professors or administrators.

• Lack of transparency and institutional cover-ups in addressing such cases, enabling perpetrators to go unpunished while victims remain unprotected.

“The physical and emotional well-being of students is the most fundamental right,” the group stressed.

“We urge the university to confront the long-neglected issue of campus sexual harassment sincerely to resolve this matter.”

The group also called on all victims of sexual harassment to come forward and report such incidents.

Malaysiakini has contacted the professor and Universiti Malaya to respond to the allegations. - Mkini