As soon as a photo of a police report by the Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan participant was posted online last Wednesday, social media went into overdrive.

Memes and trolls inundated cyber space, including WhatsApp chat groups, targeting the suspect, a 52-year-old businessman, who has now been remanded for investigations, for several days.

The trolls may have attempted to ridicule the politician, becoming a source of amusement for many, but the All Women’s Action Society (AWAM) has warned that these could profoundly affect victims or survivors of sexual harassment, too.

“Yes, the victim or survivor can be re-victimised.

“Having the story go public, on social media, without her consent, the survivor loses her privacy and control,” said its information and communications officer, Jernell Tan Chia Ee.

“Even if the person’s details that allow for direct identification are not revealed, there is a lack of control by the survivor on the outcome of those troll comments.”

She added that such comments may lead to misogynistic comments on social media news feeds or even as inbox messages directly to the survivor.

Tan said all these can trigger judgment and victim-blaming. They elicit negative emotions and have an effect on the mental health of the survivor.

In the police report, the contestant had claimed the man, who is a member of Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR), had touched her thighs, neck, hands and the back of her body when they were in his vehicle.

This triggered various trolls over social media, among others, involving the word “ramas”, meaning touched or molested, in a sentence such as “ramas ja pun” (just touching a bit) or “minta kana ramas ka” (do you want to be molested?).

They were an apparent jibe at the alleged perpetrator whose photo was also used in the background.

Some also took the opportunity to score political points by attacking STAR, stating “saya tatap akan ramas” (I will molest nonetheless), deliberately picking the words to fit the party’s acronym.

Other images pictured a woman’s hand trying to fend off a man’s hand from touching her exposed thighs while in a car. There are also other illustrations as well but all intended to mock the politician’s alleged act.

“Even if those trolls are aimed at the perpetrator, those comments can make the survivor unnecessarily relive her sexual harassment experience and re-experience negative emotions of acute distress and anxiety,” Tan said.

“The victim or survivor can experience re-traumatisation. This occurs when they re-experience a previous traumatic event, be it consciously or unconsciously.

“This can be caused by stressors similar to the circumstances of the original trauma, such as physical space, imagery and memory. One such stress factor is retelling of the traumatic experience or similar versions in the news or social media.”

Curiosity to find out more about victim

Society for Equality, Respect and Trust for All Sabah (SERATA) chairperson and founder Sabrian Melissa Aripen said such trolling results in excessive exploration on who the survivor is.

“It calls attention to her as well. Because of social media, such news spreads like wildfire — people want to be the ‘first to know’ and the ‘first to share’. They don’t think of the privacy of the sexual harassment survivors.

“People only want to know ‘who is it?’ just so they can pass judgement,” she told FMT.

Peter Voo, an associate professor at Universiti Malaysia Sabah’s faculty of psychology and education, said overwhelming trolling can cause victims of sexual harassment significant psychological effects.

Besides feeling pressured, the survivors can face serious anxiety and depression issues, which can lead to deterioration of personal health caused by, for example, lack of sleep.

Will it deter victims of sexual harassment from coming forward?

After the alleged incident was exposed, the pageant’s organising chairperson Joanna Kitingan urged other contestants who could have been victims to come forward.

Whether any young women will heed the call depends on the circumstances and situation experienced by such survivors, Voo said.

“If other sexual harassment victims are thinking of coming forward, it depends how prepared they are to face the aftermath of lodging an official report. They will have to face the media and the public’s perception.

“They will need to have a strong will to fight for justice and truth,” he said.

Tan said, from AWAM’s past experience, individuals who are courageous enough to share their experiences usually do so because they have decided that enough is enough, and want to see some form of social justice done.

“It could be that they had to deal with the ineffectiveness of current authorised channels for redress.

“So they hope that channels such as social media can eventually trigger the relevant stakeholders to act.

“One prominent example would be student Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam. Prior to calling out her teacher on TikTok, she had tried approaching her school counsellor about the rape joke issue but to no avail.

“And she ties this incident back to the institutionalised rape culture in schools that needs to be eradicated,” Tan said.

Sabrina said this could very well be a moment to teach survivors out there that they can actually report sexual harassment and be vindicated for it.

“But if we continue to delegitimise the act, then it would instead send a message of doubt — that maybe there is a line where you actually have to be raped to report the act, but by then it would be too late.

“As members of society, our response to this heinous act must be resolute. We need to protect our women as our own daughters,” she said.

Sabah MCA Wanita chief Pamela Yong said the fear of a “trial by media”, and personal or family reputation loss causes victims to unwillingly tolerate misconduct and injustice.

These are the scenarios that embolden predators to snare other prey, she said, resulting in a larger disservice as society is hindered from progressing in terms of recognising gender equality, human rights and rejecting sexploitation.

“We support the bravery of the contestant in lodging a report against a person reputedly with strong political links.

“It takes plenty of courage to bring this issue of uncalled for sexual advances to light.

“The police should be given room to fully investigate this matter. This issue should not be politicised or influenced by any parties,” she said.