Malaysian teen slams rape jokes by teacher in viral video, vows to #MakeSchoolASaferPlace
30/04/2021 06:23
By Rozanna Latiff and Ebrahim Harris
KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 (Reuters) - Malaysian teenager Ain
Husniza Saiful Nizam came home from school last week and posted
a video on TikTok, taking a male teacher to task over an alleged
joke about rape during class.
The video went viral overnight, sparking a nationwide debate
on sex education, misogyny and sexual violence in the Southeast
Asian country, where such subjects are often considered taboo.
"There's been numerous students who have been coming forward
with their own stories to me... but people didn't take any
action on what the students had to say. And for me, that is
very, very sad," Ain told Reuters.
The 17-year-old, who loves drawing and watching Japanese
anime, said she had always been outspoken about social issues
but had not expected the "overwhelming" response to the video,
which has been viewed more than 1.4 million times on TikTok.
The debate prompted her to create the hashtag
#MakeSchoolASaferPlace, which she hopes will encourage other
teenagers to come forward about problems they face at school,
including other issues such as racism.
"Our movement focuses on making school a safer environment
for every student, no matter what gender you are, either girls
or boys," Ain said.
The hashtag began trending as Ain explored the backlash she
received from some students and teachers, who accused her of
drawing negative attention to her school.
She also received a rape threat from a schoolmate, as well
as lewd remarks about her appearance from some social media
users.
Ain's parents said they were initially unsure of how to
respond but decided to report the teacher's remarks and the rape
threat to the police.
"If we act like it's normal, or keep brushing off such
remarks as mere 'jokes'... my younger children will probably go
through this too with the same teacher," said Ain's mother,
Norshaniza Sharifudin, who has five children.
Police have vowed to investigate Ain's complaint while the
women's ministry on Thursday called for stronger action over
rape jokes, sexist remarks and body-shaming. The country's
education ministry said on Wednesday it would investigate.
Cheryl Fernando of education advocacy group Pemimpin GSL
said students like Ain represented a new generation who were not
afraid to use social media to speak up.
"It's very important for the teachers and the leaders then
to know how to deal with these students," she said. "This is a
generation that has too much access to technology and to any
social media that they want and this can reach worldwide."
(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff)
((rozanna.latiff@thomsonreuters.com; +61 3 9492 9423 ; Reuters
Messaging: @rozlatiff on Twitter))