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Open letter to senator Mohd Imran Abd Hamid — Dharm Navaratnam
DEAR senator,
I am gobsmacked, dumbfounded, shocked and stunned by your proposal to enact a sexual harassment law to protect men from being seduced into committing sexual crimes such as rape, incest and molestation.
Surely you realise that the enactment of this law should be directed at protecting women and children instead?
You are reported to have said that men need to be protectedfrom the actions and clothing of women. As a man, and I would like to think, a full-blooded male, I find it preposterous and even insulting that you think that men are so easily seduced into committing crimes of a sexual nature.
If we follow your train of thought, then we should have laws to protect men from other crimes, such as stealing, as well. Let’s not market or display luxury items in a store as that would entice men to steal. While we are at it, let’s not advertise and display food either because the sight of delicacies and elegant, delicious-looking food would be just another form of bait for men to commit a crime.
Look around you. Ask around as well. Surely you are not so naive as to not know that rape happens to women of all shapes and sizes. Women of all ages, cultures and lifestyles are raped, irrespective of what they wear – even some women who have worn the jubah have been raped or molested. How then do you explain how and why these women are raped? And what about children and even babies? Let’s not forget young boys, too, are raped by men.
Rape, incest and any other form of sexual crime is premedidated. It is an act of violence and it is about exerting power and control. Statistics show that almost 90% of rape victims are abused by people that they know. It is never about women sending the wrong signals or inviting sexual abuse by what they say or wear. It is about men not being able to take “no” for an answer. It is about men thinking that they are superior to women and that they can do whatever they want. It is about men not respecting women. It is simply about men not being able to control themselves.
What you are doing is nothing short of shifting the blame for sexual crimes on to women. They are the victims. Please understand that. Whatever a woman wears, says or does is never justification for having a sexual crime committed against her. Never.
Please focus on protecting those that need protection and not come up with preposterous reasons to justify sexual crimes. I think I speak for the majority of Malaysians on this. – July 31, 2019.
The Centre for a Better Tomorrow (Cenbet) has pointed out that PKR senator Mohd Imran Abd Hamid has expressed his “twisted views” about women’s clothing in Parliament more than once.
Cenbet vice-president Ng Yeen Seen said Imran, as the Lumut MP in 2015, had told the Dewan Rakyat that “sexy dressing” of participants in Sukma Games and Fit Malaysia may lead to zina (illicit sex).
He is currently under fire for suggesting in the Dewan Negara yesterday that there should be a law protecting men from being seduced into committing rape.
Given that Imran is a repeat offender, Ng said PKR should shoulder the blame.
“Political parties have to accept some of the blame for endorsing those who are out of touch with society.
“This particular politician made uncalled for remarks about the attire of athletes when he was a member of the Lower House in 2015, and yet he was appointed senator,” said Ng, a veteran in the think tank industry.
She said research had shown that rape cases have little to do with dressing but instead stemmed from a perpetrator’s desire to exert power over his victims.
“Many rape cases, including incest, were committed by those known to the victims, including relatives. So, Imran’s views do not hold water, is misogynistic and detached from reality.
“We cannot accept that the senator places the blame for rape, molestation, incest, porn and otherwise on the victim. In fact, it is the perpetrator who must take responsibility for their own actions,” Ng added.
After receiving a reprimand from PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, Imran has apologised for his remark.
“Although my intentions were sincere, I did not expect it to be seen as a huge mistake which offended many women, as well as men who considered it an insult,” he said in a statement today.
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/486201
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weehingthong 