Cyberbullying has become a problem in social media and is prevalent throughout the age group. The ease of access and transfer of information has allowed people to gather an individual’s personal data on social media platforms. Cyber sexual harassment, a form of cyberbullying, is is an act to intentionally disturb or upset a person repetitively online with sexual taunts. The accessibility of social media and its frequent use has allowed for sexual harassment to take place easily. Often, the victims of cyberbullying are women. In Singapore, there are measures implemented to curb this form of harassment. However, the effects of it on women need to be addressed. This essay will discuss the problem of cyber sexual harassment of women in Singapore and discuss possible measures that can be implemented to address the problem.
Women are often highly sexualised in the media, be it magazines, films and advertisements, which is fed to the public on a daily basis. Repeated exposure to such portrayal of women in the media may contribute to a range of problems including sexual harassment against women (Lazier-Smith, 1989). The Parliament of Singapore has passed on an anti-harassment bill recently in 2014 (2014, March 3). The bill has made harassment of various forms, including cyber harassment, punishable and enforceable in court. Although these are laws that intend to punish perpetrators, the effectiveness remains in question. The boundary or extent of cyber harassment remains in question. For example, innuendos or double entendre may have a different meaning and cannot be deemed as harassment. The issue with enforcing laws against cyber harassment is that it is not feasible to be enforced. It only acts as deterrence for future perpetrators to prevent them from misusing social media to sexually harass an individual. Deterrence might have a split effect on individuals due to the weak or subjective law that is not followed up with a system of checks or even legislation.
Currently, there is no legislation or sanctions on sexual harassment in employment or education. The Singapore government should adopt a softer approach to tackle the issue. Public education on sexual harassment would be key in raising awareness. Although there are non-government bodies such as the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) that pro-actively raising awareness of sexual harassment in various forms amongst women, the government should instead adopt a legislation that allows for private bodies or even private companies to actively participate in raising awareness or even educate their members or employees on the issue to ensure a wider reach to people.
Censorship measures have also been taken apart from just the laws being passed on. Currently, the Media Development Authority (MDA) has blocked pornographic websites and deemed as harmful to the social fabric of Singaporeans. These sites were blocked as they promote the objectifying of women, which as a result, would curb the tendency of men from sexually harassing women on social media. This method may seem effective as it ultimately restrict access to such materials. However, it still does not solve the issue of sexualised portrayal of women on media in general. Although films are being censored in cinemas, sexual connotations still exist and widespread in many media form. It seems almost impossible to restrict everything that is on the media, as most of it does not originate locally. Restricting access to the bulk of media form can be detrimental to social stability that Singapore currently enjoys.
Alternatively, Singapore should try to abolish the concept of women being viewed as sexual objects. Removing a legalised red light district could be the first step. Licensed brothels that contribute to the objectifying of women in the society would only contribute to the outcome of sexual harassment probably not just on social media, but also sexual assault or rape. Swift action is needed to tackle the prevalent issue of sexual objectification of women. Also, the control of local media is needed. Stricter measures on censorship of sexual ideas should be given priority instead of literal sexual references. Media forms presently are littered with sexual innuendos and sexualised portrayal of women. Condoning such behaviour should not be allowed and the government should remedy the issue that is currently rooted deep in the society.
The discussed measures that Singapore currently adopts mainly focuses on stemming out the problem physically. They seem to lack depth in tackling the issue of sexual harassment on social media platforms. The issue is deeper rooted than what was implemented. As a result, it might not be able to achieve the intended target. Everyone has a part to play in this issue. Legislation on deterrence and restriction of access may seem inappropriate. The Singapore government should be more pro-active in solving the issue from its source and think of measures to change the perception of men on women. If the mindset and attitude of men is not addressed, the likelihood of the problem becoming deeper rooted and unsolvable grows as time goes by.
References
Lazier-Smith, L. (1989). Advertising: Women’s place and image. Women in mass communication: Challenging gender values. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Protection from Harassment Bill. (2014, March 3). Retrieved from http://www.parliament.gov.sg/sites/default/files/Protection from Harassment Bill 12-2014.pdf
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