KOTA KINABALU: The Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan (UNK) organising committee should also be held responsible for the safety of the participants, said a non-governmental organization.
Society for Equality, Respect And Trust for All (SERATA) said the alleged sexual harassment case involving a contestant of the recent state-level Unduk Ngadu competition could have been prevented by implementing proper mechanisms such as rules and regulations, taking a stance against acts that takes advantage of the participants, whistle-blower and witness reporting, investigation approaches and guidelines on how action will be taken against any perpetrators regardless of their backgrounds.
After establishing such grounds, a briefing is a must for staff, security guards, participants, and any other involving parties for the event.
Such actions should be done in tandem with empowering women and girls to understand what is sexual harassment, educating boys and men what are outside of the acceptable boundaries of physical and verbal means, and how boys and men can play an active role of an ally – as the onus should not be on the women and girls themselves only, said the NGO in a statement on Thursday.
“We would like to suggest that the organising committee of UNK to work with CSOs in Sabah to establish necessary guardrails, preventive and safety measures for the oncoming future events,” said SERATA.
“At SERATA, we see that this is critical not only to safeguard the reputation of a symbolic cultural experience, it is equally fundamental to substantiate the right ideas about the spirit of UNK’s origins,” it said.
“For Sabahans to stand proudly with UNK and have our cultural representation in a national to global arena, this is the time for UNK’s organising committee to pivot and utilise its platform to champion the right causes, namely inclusive beauty values, advocating for mental health awareness, fundraising for children of Sabah living in poverty, or even provide support for children survivors of incest sexual assault.
“These are pressing matters in Sabah that oftentimes invisible and brushed off because it is not a topic that makes it to the national media’s attention, therefore it is deemed not relevant,” SERATA added.
SERATA reminds members of the opposition to not take advantage of the survivor’s case for publicity gain to topple the current state government. Please take careful consideration of the survivor’s well-being as it is the utmost priority, while she is mustering strength to do what is right.
“It is imperative for all involving sides to tread carefully in protecting identity, dignity of the survivor and handle the situation with the highest level of integrity.
“We encourage all survivors, past and present to speak out collectively in support of her. As well, the women who are the past and present sponsors to use their power and position to show their support and solidarity for the survivor,” said the NGO.
SERATA also urgently calls for the Sexual Harassment Bill to be expediently approved, even if it is at a state level. It has been kept on standby for far too long and this incident, together with recent news of girls being sexually harassed at school, is proof that there is a dire need to protect our women and girls through the rule of law.
Until then, this issue will never be resolved, and Sabah will still remain as one of the top five states with the highest number of sexual assault cases.
SERATA is a non-profit organization located in Kota Kinabalu that works on achieving gender equality through partnership. Its mission is to dismantle long-held socially constructed gender roles and promote gender equality by engaging men and boys in partnership with women and girls.