Unacceptable behaviour. Behaving like gangsters. What have we become as a society?
These are some of the questions and comments we got from women’s groups when they read Kavya Kitri’s story, who was beaten up by taxi drivers at KLCC one evening when she approached them for their service.
Lee Wei San, an assistant programme manager speaking on behalf of the All Women’s Action Society (AWAM) told us that Kavya’s case was a reflection of the kind of oppression and discrimination women continue to face everyday in Malaysia.
READ: “A taxi driver beat me up in front of KLCC and nobody helped”
“Women are still expected to be silent when they face abuse and any reaction that is contrary to this, is considered ‘unbecoming’ or ‘unladylike’.
“Even worse, some believe that women ‘ask for it’ when they face violence as a result of speaking out against injustice or violence,” Lee said to us via email.
She asked, “How can we live in a society that continues to treat women as inferior, and which permits violence as a reaction to women who speak up?”
A staunch advocate of human and women’s rights, Ivy Josiah commended Kavya for speaking up about the incident, calling her courageous because often women shy away from stepping forward after such a horrific encounter.
We spoke to the executive director of Women’s Aid Organisation on the phone, and she said the men in that incident had absolutely no respect for the customer, and especially being in a group, they exhibited some form of male bonding and gangster-like behaviour.
“It is as if they were teaching women not to talk back,” she said.
Ivy added that the men knew they could do this, they could physically and verbally abuse a woman and be so smug in knowing that no one would stop them. “What have we become as a society?”
What more, was the community punishing Kavya for confronting the taxi drivers, asked Ivy. “All those people watching should be charged for aiding and abetting the the incident.”
Lee and Ivy both emphasised that the incident was simply unacceptable. Lee suggested that drivers must be educated and trained so they would know how to behave professionally with all passengers. She also emphasised that everyone has a role to play in speaking out and taking action when they see violence and discrimination against women.
Meanwhile, Ivy said Malaysia must encourage a boycott of these errant taxi drivers, urging tourists and Malaysians to either take taxis from trusted services like MyTeksi or Uber where journeys could be tracked and fares are regulated. “This behaviour will damage the reputation of Malaysia and we need to get rid of this practice,” she said, adding it was not a ‘tourism’ issue but more importnatly an issue of harassment.
Both women NGOs also called for stricter enforcement by authorities to curb the violent behaviour.
A counsellor from the Indian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur commended Kavya’s bravery for standing up for every woman’s rights regardless of their nationality, showing a way forward by not getting bullied in face of such aggression, intimidation and assault.
Kavya’s incident is one of many headlining news sites over the years, as some Malaysian taxi drivers have been earning a reputation for being unreliable, violent and just plain cheats, resulting in new services like UBER to become popular, particulalry among women passengers.
But, Uber itself has been in the news in its own right, as authorities announced that they were launching a crackdown against the company, a move its regional general manager Mike Brown called ‘clearly an attempt to protect the taxi industry that has failed its customers in Kuala Lumpur.’
He had said, “Preventing our driver partners from earning a living and getting people safely and reliably around town doesn’t just hurt the residents and visitors, it hurts the city. Uber is providing safer, cheaper and more reliable transportation options for riders and we’re creating more opportunities for drivers.”
Under the crackdown, the Road Transport Department will fine individuals or companies providing such services up to RM10,000 as using private vehicles as paid transportation was an offence under Section 16 or the Land Public Transportation Act 2010.
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