Most of us know that victim-blaming is not the way to go. At the end of the day, a person should be liable for the crimes they have committed.
However, an article on the official MyHealth portal under the Malaysian Ministry of Health titled ‘Emotional Impact On Sexual Harassment Victims’ has since gone viral for all the wrong reasons. Since receiving backlash online, KKM has removed the article from their website.
The article tackles sexual harassment which is presumably, a good thing to promote awareness of a very real problem in society. However, they listed physical attractiveness, a charming personality, and a sexy and attractive body shape as a factor that causes sexual harassment.
“Sexy and attractive body shapes are [the] dream of every single human being especially women. With the precious gift of God, we often forget that it also invites problems such as sexual harassment.”
“Apart from that, unsuitable clothing style also caused sexual harassment. Women or girls do dress up in a very sexy way simply to reveal parts of their bodies assuming that it’s beautiful and sexy in the eyes of others.”
“Yes it’s sexy and beautiful yet they forget that it indirectly lead to sexual harassment as the opposite sexes are tempted to do so.”
Other than that, they have also listed “unrestricted social interactions”, “power or status of an individual” and “culture of the local community” as causes leading towards sexual harassment.
According to that article, sexual harassment can be overcome with these steps:
- A woman who works alone must avoid working overtime, if not, she must bring the unfinished task home. If that is not possible then she must inform her friends and family of her whereabouts.
- Dress up in an appropriate dressing code and in accordance with the circumstances as indecent and inappropriate dressing style brings danger.
These are just a few points that stood out from the article that are extremely questionable. Taking to Twitter, a few netizens have expressed their disdain over the article.
It's embarassing this is on an official gov website. The content has no scientific evidence and extremely prejudiced against women. The grammar and language use is atrocious as well. Please remove this asap
— s saravanan (@ssaravs) April 12, 2021
Please delete this one dimensional & degrading article because it supports patriarchy, with the same values & biases most men have towards women. We deserve a more holistic view on how BOTH genders and their organizations could manage sexual harrasment at the workplace.
— G. Zachary (@ggpucca) April 12, 2021
I have been alerted about this article. This is absolutely wrong. @KKMPutrajaya must remove this – https://t.co/cIOI6y0Wd4 @DrAmarMOH @DrDzul @leeboonchye pic.twitter.com/8zXLzX6iW0
— Hannah Yeoh (@hannahyeoh) April 12, 2021
The article was last reviewed in 2016 and as of the morning of 13 March, the article has been taken down with no statements issued. We have reached out to the Ministry of Health but have yet to receive a reply.
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments.
Also read: M’sian Calls Out ‘Friend’ Who Said She Looked Like A Prostitute For Wearing Top With Cutouts
