Concerned citizens march inside a major shopping mall to get their anti-rape message across

by Anil Netto

It is vital that men see that they have a very important role to play

An impromptu march around Level 3 Concourse by a slogan-chanting group calling itself Citizens Against Rape on 7 Sept 2003 caught shoppers and police by surprise. Police had earlier turned down a request by the group to demonstrate outside Komtar tower in Penang and instead only allowed the indoor part of the event - speeches and an exhibition - to go ahead.

But as the speeches wound down that Sunday afternoon, the crowd decided on-the-spot to march indoors instead - around Level 3 of the Komtar concourse, the busiest floor of the shopping mall, which also houses the offices of the state government and other agencies.

Stunned, shoppers were stopped in their tracks as the chants reverberated around the mall. Some half a dozen police personnel from the Level 4 police station rushed out from their office to see what the noise below was all about.

As they made their way around Level 3, Joachim Xavier of the Penang Office for Human Development led the chanting:
“What do we want?”
“Stop the rape!” responded the crowd with gusto.
“When do we want it?” asked Joachim.
“Now!” came the resounding reply.

Stunned, shoppers were stopped in their tracks as the chants reverberated around the mall. Some half a dozen police personnel from the Level 4 police station rushed out from their office to see what the noise below was all about. Gazing down at the marchers at Level 3, they appeared unsure as to what to do.

They could see clearly the blue, white and red colours of the T-shirts worn by the Parti Keadilan Rakyat youth. But there were other young people carrying yellow helium-filled “Citizens Against Rape” balloons, which danced and bobbed in the air. Also walking spiritedly were Penang state exco member Toh Kin Woon and Anwar Fazal, the senior regional advisor of The Urban Governance Initiative, UNDP.

The crowd unfurled banners and held placards bearing messages such as “My Strength is not for Hurting”, “Enough is Enough” and “United Against Rape” while snaking their way around the concourse.

Before the police could decide what to do, the walk-about/demonstration, which lasted less than 5 minutes, was over.

Earlier, some 150 concerned citizens had turned up to express their solidarity and concern over the rising number of cases of rape and violence against women.

The event was organised by Suaram Penang, the Penang Office Human Development, the Women’s Centre for Change, SOS Penang, Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Aliran and other Penang-based groups. Also present at the event were women members of Gerakan, dressed in their black and white standard colours. During the public talk, Penang Office for Human Development officer Joachim Xavier pointed out that on average three women were raped daily. He invited men to get involved in the fight against rape.

“If men are going to stand by while women - their mothers, their wives, their sisters - get raped, then it’s a very sad state of affairs.”

“Start now, get involved in the struggle against rape,” he urged.

Rohana Ariffin of the Men-to-Men Centre reiterated Joachim’s invitation. “It is vital that men see that they have a very important role to play in the struggle against rape.” She pointed out that studies and interviews had shown that “rapists come in any form, shape or age.”

Several youths then performed a skit illustrating the unfair stigma that is often associated with rape victims.

Jacinta Felix and Damien Denis, both from the POHD, provided a riveting demonstration of how a woman can defend herself against an assailant or potential rapist. Jacinta, a karate exponent, showed how a woman trained in martial arts could thwart an assailant with some quick moves, which she made to look so easy. Looking on as Jacinta dumped Damien to the floor several times, Joachim helpfully suggested, “The idea is to twist whatever you can get hold of,” he quipped. “But you don’t need to kill the assailant; the objective is self-defence.”

At the counters, volunteers distributed material - including the “New Sex Times” - dispelling myths on rape. Other counters displayed items that a potential rape victim could use to ward off a would-be rapist including alarms and pepper spray.

In the run-up to the event, the Chief Police Office of Penang sent a letter congratulating the organisers for the initiative - an unexpected and laudable gesture.

But the organisers were refused permission to demonstrate outdoors. They had wanted to hold an anti-rape demonstration outside Komtar in the area facing Magazine Road, the very same spot that police had allowed an anti-war demonstration to take place on 15 Feb 2003.

Respecting the police’s decision, those gathered at Level 3 decided to choose the next best option: to demonstrate indoors in a brisk 5-minute walkabout on Level 3. The police were clearly not amused. Immediately after the march, a plainclothes police officer was spotted scolding Suaram Penang coordinator, Choo Chon Kai, one of the event’s organisers, saying that the group had been warned against holding a march. Chon Kai, smiling and unfazed, responded that the idea of an indoor march was a spur-of-the-moment decision by those gathered there that afternoon.

Apart from this dampener, the organisers seemed satisfied that they had succeeded in getting their message across to a small cross-section of bemused Malaysians.

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