Stop trivialising rape

Is sexual crime like rape a problem exclusive to women? From the dismal lack of reaction by the "powers that be", it appears to be so. If rape is truly regarded a vile act of violence, more women could have been saved from the clutches of rapists.

This is because if the issue of rape bothered one and all, then vehement calls for harsher penalties would be the order of the day, unlike today where people seem to have taken the issue of rape for granted. One reason for this is because rape is not seen as a violation of a woman’s rights.

After many years, law makers still do not get it that rape is not just a forced act of penile penetration into the vagina, as its present definition under the Penal Code Section 375 stands. When a stick was inserted inside little Ang May Hong’s private part, it was regarded rape. Or for that matter, even when a finger is inserted into the vagina. Should that not be considered rape?

In fact, the call to amend the definition of rape was made over a decade ago by human rights activist, the late Zaitun Kasim during her tenure with All Women’s Action Society (AWAM).

There is no excuse for law makers to not implement the much needed amendments to the laws against rape. It is not just the number of years meted out to rapists that matters. It is crucial that the issue of rape as a whole is tackled conscientiously, for the sake of justice.

Has there been a follow-up by the authorities? No! As for the media, they too seem to have no conscience, preferring their pages to be filled by politicians out to fulfill their independent agendas. Have there been cries of concerns among our parliamentarians on the issue of rape? No!

Policemen turn perpetrators

The same apathy is now prevalent after it was reported that a teenager in Kampung Bukit Lanchong was raped by a police officer attached to the Putra Heights police station in Subang Jaya. Did this act of sexual violence and that too by a guardian of the law, ring bells of alarm? Was there an uproar or street protest by any non-governmental organisation? No!

Women’s groups are silent and so are the so-called champions of human rights. Is this incident not worthy of attention? What has become of the girl? Does anyone even care? What have politicians done to help the girl? Nothing!

The girl, aged 17, was allegedly forced to perform oral sex on the policeman, Constable Jamil Abdul Sah. It was reported that she was on a motorcycle with her boyfriend one morning when the policeman, who was on patrol duty, stopped them at USJ23.

As the boyfriend had no licence, the policeman and his colleague summoned the couple to the police station for questioning where the boyfriend and the girl were questioned in different rooms.

During questioning, the girl was forced to undress and the policeman threatened to throw her boyfriend into jail for 20 years if she refused to comply with his demands. Fearing for her boyfriend’s safety, the girl agreed to perform oral sex on the policeman before being raped.

She told no one of her ordeal until two days later when she confessed to a cousin who then told her parents and a police report was lodged at the same police station.

This, by the way, is the same police station notorious for having beaten up two snatch thieves. It looks like some of our police stations have become dens of crime, with policemen taking pleasure in breaking the law instead of safeguarding it.

What is to become of Malaysia if such attitude by the cops is allowed to go on? Such incidences confirm our worst fears that women are no longer safe.

Women no longer safe

In April this year, a 28-year-old police constable and a 40-year-old lance corporal were detained for raping and robbing a Chinese national. The woman as waiting outside a budget hotel in Kuala Lumpur when the two policemen forced her into their car after which she was then taken to a secluded area before being raped and robbed.

How many rapes by policemen must take place before the much cried for amendments to the law against rape are put into place? Is the government taking a chauvinist attitude each time a woman cries rape?

While the case involving Constable Jamil is now in court after the girl filed a suit against him, the Putra Heights police station chief and the government, this incident has raised the troubling question of just how trustworthy our keepers of law are. Where does the future of the people lie when policemen turn perpetrators?

What happens if the girl is infected with a sexually transmitted disease like HIV, syphilis or gonorrhea as a result of the rape? What level of sentencing will bring about justice to the survivor and her family?

How about her mental and emotional anguish? Whose concern is this?

What have human rights organisations like Suaram and Suhakam have to say? What do women’s groups like AWAM, Sisters in Islam and WAO have to state?

What is the Women, Family and Community Development Minister Dr Ng Yen Yen doing about this problem? Is Dr Ng proving to be just as ineffective as the former Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Shahrizat Jalil?

For Constable Jamil or his superior, it is not difficult for them to assassinate the character of the rape survivor to justify their actions. But nothing can never serve as justification of the crime that took place. Just because the girl was out at dawn and that too with her boyfriend, does that make her a loose character?

When a rape occurs, it is not just the perpetrator who should be punished. Equally guilty is the public, the police makers, the media and the NGOs who choose to keep silent for reasons best known to them.

Is rape solely the problem of the survivor and her family? No, rape is everyone’s problem but the sad truth is that perhaps less than a handful are committed towards fighting this crime.

Rape is everyone’s problem

The way rape cases are being handled, it appears that this crime is being trivialised. The gender-insensitive stand of the police has made matters worse.

If rape is viewed with honest seriousness, rape survivors would not be asked to go through the psychologically terrifying ordeal of identifying the perpetrator by facing a line-up of suspects and tapping the so-called perpetrator on the shoulder.

Also, the law, through the Evidence Act, makes it clear that a rape survivor’s sexual history cannot be raised in court but still, the survivor is almost always questioned about her sexual history, the intent being to proof that she is a morally corrupt person.

Although the law, through the Penal Code, provides for the maximum punishment of 20 years’ and a minimum of five years for rape plus caning, little has changed if the rising statistics of rape cases are any indication.

How does the government intend to tackle this problem? Is counselling rapists a solution? Must we resort to stoning rapists to death, to impart the excruciatingly painful lesson that no act of sexual violence against women will be tolerated?

Caning is another way of punishing the perpetrators and perhaps even castration. Keeping in mind the crime committed by these perpetrators, there should be no debate on the violation of their human rights.

No compassion must be shown to rapists and the sentence meted out to them should correspond with the crime committed. This is where the necessary amendments to the law against rape are a must, to ensure that rape as a crime is addressed holistically, keeping in mind not just the act of rape but also the circumstances under which the rape took place.

A distinction must be made if the rape survivor is of unsound mind and in a situation which makes her vulnerable to violence, hence the need to categorise rape according to its circumstances, for example aggravated rape.

The reality remains that rape can never be completely eliminated from society. However, the occurrences of this vile crime can be reduced, provided the much needed changes are made and implemented without fear or favour.