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Diva
updated 2 Apr 2012, 08:35
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Sun, Mar 15, 2009
STOMP
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Perverts who harass women get away scot-free

A recent news report on how perverts aboard public transportation get away with their misdeed prompted a STOMPer to write in and share her ordeal.
 
Earlier, on Mar 13, my paper carried an article, Sexually harassed, but more did nothing, where 2 in 5 respondents in an NTU survey said they were pestered by perverts while they were travelling aboard public transportation in Singapore.
 
This opened DC's wounds, and she wrote in to share her experiences, and she also calls out for stronger measures to be taken against such perpetrators.

In her email to STOMP, she said:

"In a crowded MRT train, I noticed an uncle kept ogling at me and my girlfriend for very long. I felt irritated and stared at him yet it didn’t stop his behavior. So I flashed my phone at him, pretending to take photo of him.
 
"It triggered his anger and got his friend to corner us while he rushed to the control station to make a complaint and called the police.
 
"He insulted me rudely in public and wanted to sue me for taking his picture.
 
"He is guilty of ogling yet he pushed me the blame that I took his picture for my own pleasure.
 
"Police filed as domestic case to appease both parties.
 
"It’s not the 1st time I encountered such incident. Men can ogle freely but instead reported the victim to police causing, thus causing embarrassment to the victim. In the end, I can only suffer in silence of being humiliated in public.

"Years ago, I was tanning in the East Coast beach with my sister and came alone a perpetrator hiding behind a tree to ogle at us for a long time, then hovered around us and had his eyes fixed on us.

"We felt extremely uneasy and scolded him to go away.
 
"A while later 2 policemen came and said someone informed the police that two girls are tanning naked at the beach! (We were in bikinis) Soon, a crowd gathered near us, and this embarrassed us thoroughly as the police questioned us.

"These perpetrators should be punished and not get away scot-free. Although in My Paper today’s article encouraged woman to speak up when they are been sexually harassed, the result will end up ugly for the victims in my case."

This article was first published in STOMP.


readers' comments
When one is eye candy, dress sexily, or provacatively ...is it any wonder that you attract the opposite sex. The best defence is to ignore them, the more you display discomfort the bolder they become. As long as they havent attempt any physical contact towards you or are stalking you then let it go....
Posted by heavenlyangel on Fri, 3 Apr 2009 at 20:38 PM
Though many of you say "there's nothing wrong with looking and just touching", I beg to differ.

Put yourself in a woman's shoes.

How would you feel, knowing someone is undressing you in his mind, thinking unwholesome thoughts about you, maybe taking those same thoughts back home to the loo?

Would you not feel EXTREMELY uncomfortable?

And although not physically harrassing, would you not consider this emotionally and psychological harrassing?

Certainly it would be virtually impossible to enforce laws to protect women from wandering minds, as the mind is, the only place no external force can ever infringe upon.

However society can do its part by NOT condoning actions of oogling uncles as you lot have done.

Perhaps then women would feel safer taking public transport .....
Posted by magickenfly on Fri, 3 Apr 2009 at 15:44 PM
Shallow singy girl,dont think so highly of yourself, beautiful, pretty women from China, vietnam, thailand are taking over you all.. you bf or husband might be tempted by them and you who think too highly of yourself are actually being used by us.
Posted by antisillypor on Mon, 16 Mar 2009 at 12:45 PM
DC: You are being so presumptous that the `uncle' is oogling at you. So what? Your action by whipping out your cellphone to take a picture of him was even more provocative. Who gave you the permission to take a picture of someone? Serves you right.
And by suntanning in bikinis on the beach, you and your friend are inviting attention from men. You asked for it - you slut!
Posted by Pushkin62 on Sun, 15 Mar 2009 at 23:42 PM
hello girl in bikini,

if a white man ogling at you, you would say "come and F**UC**K ME"
Posted by nolapl on Sun, 15 Mar 2009 at 23:25 PM
After all eyes is for wat? to look at pretty things. Mayb the writed look very sexy the way she dress or mayb the ah bai trying to seduce her to show his power ha ha =). did the ah bai sailva dips out while he is looking at you. Don worried take it as a comments tat you are so pretty that why. In actual fact as a pretty woman is more likely that ah bai especially those dirty smelly ah bai will like to disturb one lah.
Posted by babyreds on Sun, 15 Mar 2009 at 22:36 PM
The writed mentioned "oggle", i presume that uncle didn't physically touch her, so i just wonder what charge would that come under? On the contrary, whooping out the hp to take another person's pix without permission is equally unacceptable, if men do that to women, it is another harrasment, so in this case, i think it is a draw...woman can't make such a fuss just over an oggling issue, after all, no touch was involved
Posted by ScoppyDee on Sun, 15 Mar 2009 at 18:07 PM

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