By WINNIE YEOH
WHEN Amy* first got the call from a stranger, she was flattered he wanted to befriend her. It didn’t occur to her to be suspicious of his intentions, not when he seemed so caring and understanding. Of course, she was also 15 and naive, and had never had a boyfriend before.
Within days of knowing him, Amy was convinced they were in love. So, when he asked her out a week after they first spoke, Amy met up with him.
She was shy, and secretly glad he was good looking. But her good impression of him didn’t last long.
After a nice lunch together, he persuaded her to help him carry some boxes up to his apartment, where he raped her.
According to police statistics, the number of rapes in Malaysia has increased from 2,431 in 2006 to 3,595 in 2010.
And at least half the reported cases involve girls below 16. These cases are categorised as statutory rapes under Section 375(g) of the Penal Code which clearly states that it is rape when a man has sexual intercourse with a girl aged below 16 – with or without her consent.
Amy’s rapist was a man in his 30s, and her case was recently highlighted by the Penang-based women’s non-governmental organisation Women’s Centre For Change (WCC) programme director Dr Prema Devaraj to illustrate a pattern they see emerging in rape cases.
Dr. Prema and Loh of WCC have seen many cases of underaged girls being raped because of their naivety.
“We are seeing how young girls are targeted through the use of information and communication technology tools,” she said when sharing the results of a survey WCC did with 100 girls between 15 and 17, in 10 schools in Penang.
From the survey, they found that eight out of the ten girls surveyed had received calls or texts from strangers on their cellphones.
The survey also found that 54% of the respondents has chatted online with strangers, and 23% shared personal information such as their name, age and address.
These findings indicate young girls are vulnerable to advances from strangers through their cellphones and computers, and not all their conversations are harmless as about 30% of those who owned cellphones said they had received sexually suggestive messages through text and multimedia messages.
“What is also worrying is the alarming speed at which a ‘relationship’ is built (through text messages and online),” said Dr Prema.
Loh said WCC has reached out to 750 students to teach them about protecting themselves from predators.
She cited a case where 17-year-old Kylie* befriended Herman*, who was in his 20s, on Facebook. They spent a lot of time chatting online, and Kylie liked how Herman looked on his profile photo.
After three days of chatting online, Kylie was convinced Herman was the one for her and agreed to be his girlfriend.
Early the next morning, while she was on her way to school, Kylie was shocked to see Herman at a road junction near her house.
He told her he just wanted to spend some real time with her and asked her to accompany him to the beach.
She panicked but was more frightened that someone in the neighbourhood might see them and tell her parents, and so she quickly got into his car.
In the car, she felt at ease because Herman was chatting pleasantly with her, and impressing her with stories of his rich family and college plans.
It was only when Herman parked at a secluded side lane and started groping her that Kylie realised she was in danger.
When he raped her, she was too shocked.
“I wanted to scream but no sound came out,” said Kylie.
Easy prey
Not all men need to use force in statutory rape cases; instead the older men prey on their young victims’ naivety and vulnerabilities.
These young girls are coaxed into having sex with the men, on a “suka sama suka” (mutual affection) basis, said Dr Prema.
WCC provides support services for victims of sexual assaults, and they have been collaborating with the Penang Hospital’s One-Stop Crisis Centre at its Emergency and Trauma Unit since 2008.
Dr Prema and her team at WCC have dealt with various kinds of rape cases, from date rapes to gang rapes.
There are girls who have gone on dates and had their drinks spiked, and then raped while they were unconscious.
But WCC is also concerned about underage girls who are corced into sex because they are naive.
“There have been cases where a girl has consented to sex – either willingly, reluctantly or out of fear of losing her boyfriend – and after sex, the boyfriend calls his friends to join in as well.
Dr Prema said some girls are seduced by the attention and affection lavished on them by strangers.
“Some of these girls did not know about their reproductive rights, or were easily taken in by sweet talk, gifts or money. Some lacked self esteem, or were not close to their family, or lacked motivation in school,” related Dr Prema.
However, she pointed out that when the age gap between the victim and the man is wide, the element of exploitation comes into play.
Citing a case where the victim was 13 and the perpetrator was in his mid-20s, Dr Prema said, “This is really child predatory sex. No violence was involved but sexual exploitation had taken place.
“We also notice there is a lack of awareness of danger or risky situations among the victims. In addition, some victims are quite passive and hence more vulnerable to sexual predators.
“‘I rasa abang jaga I (I feel that he will care for me)’ or ‘Tak tau … I ikut aje (I don’t know… I just went along)’ or ‘I tak sangka dia akan buat macam tu (I did not expect him to do such a thing)’ are phrases often heard from rape victims,” said Dr Prema.
Be savvy
WCC has been conducting a “Be Savvy Be Smart” programme in schools to empower youths, and teach them about keeping safe. So far, WCC has reached out to 750 youth in schools and colleges in Penang.
The results of the survey on how teenage girls are interacting with strangers on their cellphones and online have compelled WCC to expand on their programme.
A poster by WCC encouraging victims to not keep silent about their assault.
“We want to develop it into a multimedia resource or as an online programme to more effectively reach youths. They need to know about the dangers of ICT and how to prevent being exploited by potential perpetrators,” she said, adding that parents, teachers and educators play an important role to guide the youth,” said WCC executive director Loh Cheng Kooi.
“We will also train the trainers and give them resources, guidelines and useful contacts on who to call in times of need,” she said.
The centre is also looking at working with service providers like the police, welfare department and hospitals, to ensure that procedures and protocols are followed when a report has been filed by a victim.
WCC is seeking joint partnerships with corporations to develop their ICT violence prevention programme for youth.
“Corporate bodies, through corporate social responsibility, can help our youth by supporting such a programme. This would truly benefit the future generation of our society,” said Loh.
*All names have been changed.
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