PETALING JAYA: A number of activists have called for the strengthening of laws against sexual harassment following the uncovering of a Telegram group chat used to distribute images of women and minors without their consent.
Four women have lodged police reports against the group. They are among the many whose images have been distributed among chat members.
Sheena Gurbakhash, president of the Association of Women Lawyers, said the Penal Code could be used in such cases but she called for more specificity in Malaysian law.
“We don’t have laws that are strong enough to specifically address the issues of sexual harassment or cyberbullying in Malaysia,” she said.
Speaking of offending chat groups, Sheena said: “They cause untold amounts of embarrassment and damage to the victims, many of whom don’t even know that their photos are being circulated and commented on by thousands of people they don’t know.”
She said victims should also be afforded improved support in the form of counselling services due to the traumatic nature of the crime and added that her association was campaigning for laws against sexual harassment and cyberbullying.
“We have been told that the Sexual Harassment Act will be tabled later this year. We really hope the law will be tabled and passed this time.”
Nisha Sabanayagam, programmes and operations manager for the All Women’s Action Society, agreed that new laws were urgently needed.
“We need to table both the Sexual Harassment Bill and the Anti-Stalking Bill to ensure that survivors will be able to get access to justice more quickly and safely without their identities disclosed.”
Nisha also said she would like to see Putrajaya directly address the issue during the coming meeting of the Dewan Rakyat, when the proposed national budget for 2021 will be tabled.
“The government can allocate funding to establishing a gender-based cyber violence unit to help fight such crimes in cyberspace,” she said.
According to Michael Chong, MCA Public Services and Complaints Bureau chief, reports of group chats such as the one recently exposed were common and presented risks for women whose images may be used to further criminal activity.
He said pictures of women could be used to “con people out of money”, adding that there was a lack of legal recourse for targeted women.
Referring to the Telegram group, Chong said there was no telling how many people had access to the shared pictures.
“These photos spread and you can’t stop it,” he said. “Once you find out, it’s too late. And a lot of girls will never find out.
“Once a photo ends up in a group chat like this with hundreds of people, it’s a bit like a Covid-19 cluster. It spreads wider and wider.”
He said he had had consultations with police and had advocated harsher, swifter punishments. - FMT
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