Reasons why rape victims don't come forward against high profile offenders

 

When a celebrity preacher was arrested late last month for allegedly committing rape, it brought to surface further allegations against him from other victims - at least two of whom claimed to have been raped a year ago.

The delay in reporting these cases to the police has caused some on social media to question whether the allegations are real and why it took so long for the women to come forward.

It is a pattern of coming forward with sexual crimes allegations and being doubted that has repeated itself since the "Me Too" movement took off in 2017.

For All Women Action Society (Awam) programme director Lilian Kok, victims of sexual crimes perpetrated by popular individuals are gripped by self-doubt and fear.

"Because of the power of the offender, sometimes they think 'who am I for people to believe?'

"Victims may also feel police will not believe them because of the offender's status. This gives the offenders an advantage," she told Malaysiakini.

Kok said victims of high profile individuals might also be facing pressure not to report the cases.

"Victims rarely make reports because of pressure. They think this rich person is disturbing me, so no one will believe me.

"Imagine how many cases don't get reported to police," she added.

In cases that do get reported, women are sometimes accused of falsely lodging complaints to tarnish the offender's reputation.

"This is actually about the victim's reputation. If they make a report, they have to retell the incident to police repeatedly and in court to be believed. This is a humiliating process (for the victims).

"So for me, it makes no sense to say a victim has ill intentions against the offenders. They don't get anything from it," Kok said.

Men must play a greater role

In this fight against sexual crimes and for victims to be heard and believed, the Awam programme director said men must play a greater role.

This is because men too can be victims whose claims are doubted.

"Most male victims don't reveal if they have been sexually harassed.

"They keep silent because they are ashamed of not fighting back. And this patriarchal system assumes that men should not be victims of sexual harassment," Kok said.

According to her, this adds to the mental and emotional stress faced by male victims.

Meanwhile, Kok said Awam had received 133 sexual harassment complaints this year, including 108 since the movement control order began in March.

Of those complaints, 59 were cases of online sexual harassment.

Plans to make sexual harassment a crime have been in the legislative pipeline for years.

It was supposed to be tabled last month but has been postponed to next year at least. - Mkini