AS teenager Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam is being targeted by school authorities for speaking up against sexual harassment, more Opposition leaders come forward to show support to her cause.
“This is a miscarriage of justice. The person who dares to voice out against such culture gets penalised by her own school while the teacher who made the rape joke and the student who made rape threats against her get away, without even a slap on the wrist.
“Ain Husniza has been denied education and is now being forced to move to another school. They ignored her plight and has not made attempts to ensure the environment is safe for her to return back to school.
“This is unacceptable as children will take the cue from their educators, leaving rape jokes and threats getting normalised,” the MPs said.
The joint statement was signed by 11 MPs and 27 state assemblypersons including former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, former Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad, former deputy minister Ong Kian Ming and MPs such as Tony Pua, Charles Santiago, Maria Chin Abdullah and Wong Chen.
Yesterday, The Vibes reported Ain Husniza as saying that her school had threatened her with expulsion if she continued to skip classes.
The student-activist has been absent from school for several days since her revelation over two weeks ago for fear of her own safety, after she received a rape threat from a schoolmate.
Gender Equality Act
“The letter was received on May 4 despite the school assuring her of support,” her father, Saiful Nizam Abdul Wahab was reported saying.
Ain Husniza levelled allegations against one of her teachers for making rape jokes. To date, no action has been taken against the teacher.
It was reported that the school principal had described Ain Husniza as a “spawn of the devil wearing a headscarf” in her Facebook page, triggering outcry among netizens.
Former Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching criticised Education Minister Datuk Radzi Jidin for not acting on the matter. The latter and his deputies have yet to respond on both Ain Husniza’s case.
On the school principal’s comments, the Opposition MPs urged the Government to take action against the former.
“This is why we need a Gender Equality Act as proposed by the previous Pakatan Harapan administration to ensure our boys and girls are protected.
“It’s time for us to also raise awareness on gender sensitivity among teachers and students,” they opined.
The lawmakers added that the school principal’s negative comments may have given other educators and students license to view jokes about sexual violence as acceptable and humiliate anyone who dares to stand up against the status quo.
“And the Education Ministry (MOE) has chosen to ignore the elephant in the room,” the remarked. – May 10, 2021
Photo credit: Malay Mail
