Warning over online sexual harassment

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Warning over online sexual harassment

By The Nation

 

FILE photo

 

Sexual harassment online often goes unreported as perpetrators consider it "normal" and some victims choose to ignore it, the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation has warned.

 

The foundation said that such a threat was a step towards sexual violence, Thai Public Broadcasting Service (TPBS) reported on Thursday.

 

The foundation, which monitored 294 sexual violence reports in 14 newspapers last year, found that 26 sexual violent crimes (or 8.8 per cent) were committed by a person the victim knew via online social network, said the foundation’s senior staff member Angkhana Intasa.

 

The study found that 128 cases (43.5 per cent), were committed by an acquaintance of the victim, followed by 112 (38.2 per cent) of cases were committed by strangers and 28 (9.5 per cent) were committed by the victims' family members or relatives.

 

As society still largely perceived the online world as unreal, sexual harassment - which includes small acts of harassment through words or bigger acts such as a release of the victims' obscene photos online - was viewed as a non-serious issue.

 

"The victims often chose to let it go, partially because they didn't think it was a violent act and some thought the legal action against wrongdoers would be difficult and take too long," Angkhana said.

 

With the Internet's ability to spread information far, wide and fast, most victims chose not to go through a legal process to contain the damage, she added.

 

Angkhana said that sexual harassment online or offline should constitute a legal offence. "If [offenders] feel they can harass another person with words as if that person isn't an equal human being, it can make [them] dare to proceed to violate the person's other rights, such as launch a physical attack," she said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30359085

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-11-22

[dcnx]

Can’t they use the Computer Crime Act for that? 

[rkidlad]

14 minutes ago, dcnx said:

Can’t they use the Computer Crime Act for that? 

They will when it's someone important. After all, the act isn't there to protect the average man, it's there to protect the elite.

[DM07]

Can someone explain to me, how "online harassment" is supposed to work?

It seems I am lacking fantasy. here!

[seahorse]

So sexual harassment doesn't constitute a criminal offence at the moment? 

[KhunFred]

If you have the ability to ignore or block someone, any harassment would be YOUR fault. I have never been bothered by people I have blocked online.

[cyberfarang]

9 minutes ago, KhunFred said:

If you have the ability to ignore or block someone, any harassment would be YOUR fault. I have never been bothered by people I have blocked online.

I`ve also never been sexually harassed online or anywhere else, unfortunately, but I live in hope.

[Baerboxer]

1 hour ago, DM07 said:

Can someone explain to me, how "online harassment" is supposed to work?

It seems I am lacking fantasy. here!

 

Imagine someone using their position to exert perceived power. E.g. a teacher. A mother would respect her son/daughter's teacher, want him to favor their offspring and not do anything negative to their offspring. The teacher fancies the mum so starts messaging her about the school, then starts including personal comments, flirting, and then more direct sexual references. 

 

This is one simple example. Their are many sexual predators out their, grooming women of all ages and seeking to live out their fantasies. It is much more widespread than people realize as many choose not to complain as they don't want the negative publicity, gossip and reactions. In extreme cases this grooming leads to stalking and potentially sexual assault and rape.

 

I know people involved with NGO's in the UK trying to combat this; and two people who were victims. Social media has provided the channel for many perverts who in the past couldn't act like this.

[Baerboxer]

1 hour ago, KhunFred said:

If you have the ability to ignore or block someone, any harassment would be YOUR fault. I have never been bothered by people I have blocked online.

 

That's true. But very often the perverts are people who have other normal regular contact with the victim. And many victims fear negative reactions in someway by blocking the person harassing them.

 

Many victims are nice, kind, people with high E.Q. and empathy levels. The harasser takes advantage of that by making them feel sorry, talking about their problems, pretending to be "close" friends with family/friends of the victim, pretending to share confidential information to create the allusion of mutual trust etc etc.

 

These people may be sickos but they are often cunning, clever, devious and of course, compulsive liars. They pick their victims carefully. Whilst you or I might tell them to go forth and multiply, not all are like us. 

 

 

[DrTuner]

'sexual harassment - which includes small acts of harassment through words or bigger acts such as a release of the victims' obscene photos online'

 

To make any one take them seriously they need a new definition for some one being a garden variety a-hole, not classify it together with the more heinous stuff.

[Lupatria]

I'm missing the photo with Big Joke hugging, and soothing the female victims.

[DM07]

2 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Imagine someone using their position to exert perceived power. E.g. a teacher. A mother would respect her son/daughter's teacher, want him to favor their offspring and not do anything negative to their offspring. The teacher fancies the mum so starts messaging her about the school, then starts including personal comments, flirting, and then more direct sexual references. 

 

This is one simple example. Their are many sexual predators out their, grooming women of all ages and seeking to live out their fantasies. It is much more widespread than people realize as many choose not to complain as they don't want the negative publicity, gossip and reactions. In extreme cases this grooming leads to stalking and potentially sexual assault and rape.

 

I know people involved with NGO's in the UK trying to combat this; and two people who were victims. Social media has provided the channel for many perverts who in the past couldn't act like this.

Okay, but ...and I am not saying this to be clever or funny...it seems to me, that "online" is way easier to "fight" then "in the real world".

Or am I missing something?

[zzaa09]

We really go out of our way to create unnecessary complex existence. 

 

Ain't modern technological life grand.