My Longkang

Tan Sri Musa Hassan :No hanky panky

When I was a kid, my mum would tell me to behave or she could call a policeman to come and catch me. Even today, I subconsciously sit upright and check to see if I am wearing my seatbelt when I see one. So in my warped mind, a policeman is a pillar of exemplary moral behavior.

Thus, it was an eye-opener when I read that police chief Tan Sri Musa Hassan reminded all policewomen, single and married to behave properly when they are with their male colleagues.The Inspector-General also told them not to become too engrossed with promotions, so much so that they forget their families.

He advised the 4,500 women in the force to avoid improper behavior as it was against their religious values and could give rise to doubts and slander against the police. “Always live disciplined and moderate lifestyles. Ensure you spend time with your family. Don’t ever neglect your family in the quest for promotions,” he said when closing the three-day Women Police Officers Seminar 2006 at the Police College here yesterday.

Musa expressed sadness over sexual harassment within the force.
“Even though women are the victims most of the time, there are also cases of men becoming the victim.” He added that the men must show respect to their women colleagues and act professionally when working long hours together.

What is sexual harassment?

Sexual harassment is harassment or unwelcome attention of a sexual nature. It includes a range of behavior from mild transgressions and annoyances to serious abuses, which can even involve forced sexual activity.

Sexual harassment is considered a form of illegal discrimination, and is a form of abuse (sexual and psychological) and bullying.

The definition of sexual harassment may be ambiguous. For example, persons from more conservative cultures, such as traditional east Asian, may view the act of a peck on the cheek as harassment, an act in the west normally associated with greeting and congratulating.

Varied circumstances
Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances. The harasser can be anyone. The victim does not have to be the person directly harassed but can be anyone who finds the behavior offensive and is affected by it. While adverse effects on the victim are common, this does not have to be the case for the behavior to be unlawful.

The victim and harasser can be male or female. The harasser does not have to be of the opposite sex. The harasser may be completely unaware that his or her behavior is offensive or constitutes sexual harassment or may be completely unaware that his or her actions could be unlawful.

Varied behaviors
One of the difficulties in understanding sexual harassment is that it involves a range of behavior, and is often difficult for the recipient to describe to themselves, and to others, exactly what they are experiencing. Moreover, behavior and motives vary between individual harassers.

There are three different classes of harassers. First there is the predatory harasser who gets sexual thrills from humiliating others. This harasser may become involved in sexual extortion, and may frequently harass just to see how targets respond–those who don’t resist may even become targets for rape.

Next, there is the dominance harasser, the most common type, who engages in harassing behaviour as an ego boost. Third are strategic or territorial harassers, who seek to maintain privilege in jobs or physical locations, for example a man’s harassing female employees in a predominantly male occupation.

Finally there is the winner. The Winner is a common profile that confuses harassment victims and others in the community because they do not seem like the type who would need to abuse anyone. An adult male harasser is often middle aged, married with children, a religious person , and someone who is highly respected in the community.

Brian Martin, an Australian associate professor of Science, Technology and Society writes “Most harassers don’t try to justify their behavior; they don’t think about it. If asked, they may say they are just having fun and don’t cause any harm. A few, though, consciously seek to humiliate their victims.”

Sexualized environments (aka environmental harassment)
Sexualized environments are environments where obscenities, sexual joking, sexually explicit graffiti, viewing Internet pornography, sexually degrading posters and objects, etc., are common. None of these behaviors or objects may necessarily be directed at anyone in particular. However, they can create an offensive environment, and one that is consistent with “hostile environment sexual harassment.

Retaliation and backlash
Retaliation and backlash against a victim are very common, particularly a complainant. Victims who speak out against sexual harassment are often labeled troublemakers who are on their own power trips, or who are looking for attention. Similar to cases of rape or sexual assault, the victim often becomes the accused, with their appearance, private life, and character likely to fall under intrusive scrutiny and attack. They risk hostility and isolation from colleagues, supervisors, teachers, fellow students, and even friends. They may become the targets of mobbing or relational aggression.

Common effects on the victims
Common professional, academic, financial, and social effects of sexual harassment:
Decreased work or school performance; increased absenteeism
Loss of job or career, loss of income
Having to drop courses, change academic plans, or leave school (loss of tuition)
Having one’s personal life offered up for public scrutiny –the victim becomes the “accused,” and his or her dress, lifestyle, and private life will often come under attack. (Note: this rarely occurs for the perpetrator.)
Being objectified and humiliated by scrutiny and gossip
Becoming publicly sexualized (i.e. groups of people “evaluate” the victim to establish if they are “worth” the sexual attention or the risk to the harasser’s career)
Defamation of character and reputation
Loss of trust in environments similar to where the harassment occurred
Loss of trust in the types of people that occupy similar positions as the harasser or their colleagues
Extreme stress upon relationships with significant others, sometimes resulting in divorce; extreme stress on peer relationships, or relationships with colleagues
Weakening of support network, or being ostracized from professional or academic circles (friends, colleagues, or family may distance themselves from the victim, or shun them altogether)
Having to relocate to another city, another job, or another school
Loss of references/recommendations
Some of the psychological and health effects that can occur in someone who has been sexually harassed: depression, anxiety and/or panic attacks, sleeplessness and/or nightmares, shame and guilt, difficulty concentrating, headaches, fatigue or loss of motivation, stomach problems, eating disorders (weight loss or gain), feeling betrayed and/or violated, feeling angry or violent towards the perpetrator, feeling powerless or out of control, increased blood pressure, loss of confidence and self esteem, withdrawal and isolation, overall loss of trust in people, traumatic stress, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), complex post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal thoughts or attempts, suicide.
Reference