Sextortion Now A Global Phenomenon, Says IAWJ

By Norshazlina Nor'azman PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), Sept 21 (Bernama) -- Sextortion, which takes places when a bribe is offered and accepted in the form of sex rather than money, has become a "global phenomenon", according to International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) senior advisor Nancy Hendry. She said sextortion was a problem all over the world, with far-reaching human and social costs. Although sextortion victims comprised both men and women, most of them were women and girls, she said, claiming that "this global phenomenon" was causing serious harm, robbing women of their dignity and opportunity, and undermining confidence in public institutions. "Sextortion occurs when people in positions of power such as government officials, judges, educators, law enforcement personnel, border guards, employers, or others extort sexual favours, instead of money, in return for something that's within their power to grant or withhold, such as a visa, favourable court decision, good grade, dismissal of a traffic ticket, passage across a border and so on," she said during a workshop at the 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) here, recently. NAME AND SHAME When people think of corruption, they usually link it to material or money changing hands although the crime scope is much more wider and not purely limited to those forms. Perhaps not many people think or realise that seeking sexual favours as a reward also falls within the ambit of corruption - it is the IAWJ that coined the term 'sextortion' to describe this sexualised form of corruption. Hendry said it was sad that not enough attention was being paid to the gendered impact of bribery, and that it often fell between the legal cracks and was not treated as either a sexual crime or corruption, thus allowing the perpetrators to go unprosecuted. "One of the biggest contributors to impunity for sextortion is (the fact) that people often do not see it as corruption... most anti-corruption efforts focus on financial wrongdoing, not sexual favours," she said. Hendry said since 2009, IAWJ has been working to raise awareness about the sexualised form of corruption. "The IAWJ would like to see anti-sextortion efforts institutionalised within the civil service by incorporating sextortion in the drafting, teaching and enforcement of professional codes of ethics and government accountability, and incorporating sextortion in anti-corruption monitoring and data collection efforts," she said. She pointed out that sextortion not only need to be recognised as an unlawful and unethical abuse of entrusted power, but it was also crucial to name and shame the perpetrators and put an end to sexual graft. LACK OF AWARENESS What is the extent of sextortion in Malaysia? According to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) Legal Research Division Deputy Commissioner Han Chee Rull, only two cases involving sextortion has been received since 2009. He said the low number could be due to a lack of awareness among victims that what they had encountered was a form of corruption. "I believe the victims don't have any idea that they can report the crime to us... many people don't know this. "This may be because people always think that corruption only involves money... if victims of sextortion report the matter to us, we will carry out investigations immediately," he told Bernama at the sidelines of the IACC. Speaking at the conference earlier, Han said Malaysia has the necessary laws to investigate and prosecute sextortion cases. He said sexual favour or sexual service was regarded as a form of gratification under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 and the term extend to any offer, undertaking or promise, whether conditional or unconditional, of any sexual favour or service. "In Malaysia, instances of abuse of authority for sexual pleasure by (any) person can be prosecuted as (an) offence of criminal assault or criminal force to outrage the modesty or to dishonour a person, or using (any) word or gesture intended to insult (the) modesty of a person," he said. Sextortion may also be prosecuted as rape, said Han, adding that, "offences of rape by (a) person in authority or trust is provided under Section 375(f) of the Penal Code. "The element of the offence is fulfilled if the offender seeks sexual favours to induce him to perform certain acts or desired conduct. It's not necessary that the intended result resulted." DIFFICULT TO PROVE Sextortion, however, was more difficult to prove than extortion of money and this was the daunting task facing the MACC, said Han. The objective and subjective elements of an act of sextortion need to be taken into account to determine whether an act of obtaining and receiving sexual favour amounts to a corrupt act in law. "When a guy demands sexual favour even just by saying 'I want you' to someone, only the victim understands what he really means. But how does one prove that the accused has committed sextortion? "It's easier to prove money bribery but it's really tough to prove sextortion as you usually don't have the hard evidence," he said. Han said what the MACC normally did was "set up traps", with the objective of gathering and recording evidence before its officers swoop on the accused. Such traps include getting the victim to fix an appointment with the accused to meet him privately, of course under the watchful eyes of anti-graft officials. "When the accused says anything that amounts to sextortion, we arrest him," said Han, citing a case the MACC had dealt with involving a woman who claimed that an immigration officer had invited her "to go out with him" while she was trying to cross into Singapore. "When the woman reported to us, we needed the proof, so we instructed her to contact him (the immigration officer). Sure enough, the man asked her to book a hotel room...," he related. LAW AGAINST SEXUAL HARASSMENT Meanwhile, National Council of Women's Organisations Malaysia President Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahbudin, who also participated in the IACC, told Bernama the government should enact a law to criminalise sexual harassment at the workplace, as well as sextortion. "Women must also be willing to come forward to report such cases. Presently, many of them are reluctant to do so due to fear of repercussion and stigma... they think it may lead to them being fired or transferred elsewhere," she said. She also said that sextortion did not only apply to men who demand sexual favours, but also to women who use sex as a tool to get promoted at the workplace. "Both forms of sextortion must be dealt with seriously," she added. -- BERNAMA