DOI: https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v7i12.1993
Social Media Use and Sexual Harassment Propensity among Female Youth in Perak
Farah Fazlinda Mohamad1*
1Department of Communication and Media, Faculty of Language and Communication, Sultan Idris Education University, 35900, Tanjong Malim, Perak, Malaysia.
Email: [email protected]
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR (*):
Farah Fazlinda Mohamad ([email protected]) KEYWORDS:
Propensity
Sexual harassment Social media Social media use Youth
CITATION:
Farah Fazlinda Mohamad. (2022). Social Media Use and Sexual Harassment Propensity among Female Youth in Perak.
Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 7(12), e001993.
https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v7i12.1993
ABSTRACT
Malaysia has been recorded as having one of the highest internet penetration rates in the Southeast Asia region. To date, there are 30.25 million active social media users in Malaysia. This statistic indicated the growing number of social media users, which can be referred to as a blessing in disguise for Malaysia. One of the devastating impacts is the rising number of sexual harassment cases in Malaysia.
Thus, this study is conducted to study the impact of social media use and sexual harassment propensity among female youth in Perak. A quantitative survey was conducted with 384 female youth in several localities in Perak using cluster sampling. Based on the survey, it was indicated that the frequency of social media use among female youth in Perak is moderate, and the sexual harassment propensity recorded from them is low.
However, this study has shown that there is a significant relationship between social media use and sexual harassment propensity. As this is a quantitative study, it is recommended that future scholars conduct a qualitative study to explore this issue thoroughly. Furthermore, future studies can recruit participants from both genders, as the current trend shows men among the rising victims of sexual harassment. To improve this situation in the future, every stakeholder—parents, educators, ministries, and relevant bodies—should explore feasible solutions to enhance media users’ awareness and understanding of this issue.
Contribution/Originality: This study contributes to the existing literature on the impact of social media use on the propensity of sexual harassment among female youth in Perak, Malaysia. It seeks to understand the influence of social media on the occurrence of sexual harassment among female youth. Despite the importance of social media in daily life, the youths need to take care of their safety and mental health condition.
1. Introduction
In most advanced democratic countries, the conduct of by-elections is an integral part in With the introduction of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Blog, and others, the rise of social media has taken over the Malaysian internet population. Since the advent of social media platforms such as SNS in Malaysia, these websites have attracted millions of users who utilise them on a regular basis. The rising trend in using the social media on a regular basis has not only brought good impacts. However, it has brought over devastating impacts especially to the youth. One of the impacts that could be seen nowadays is the rising number of sexual harassment case on the social media.
Sexual harassment can be defined as the use of the internet to make uninvited advances, communications, or interactions with another person or entity. This can be in various forms like unsolicited posts and comments on social media sites; emails, texts, graphic images and posts directed at the victim, instant messaging (Seethi & Ghatak, 2018). This shows that social media is attributed to the rising number of sexual harassment cases.
Harassment in social media tends to involve sexual elements in its application as a study of middle-class students shows that they access the internet in an effort to obtain information about sex-related matters (Gorkemli, 2017). The most worrying case is that the sexual harassment case was reported among the women as 36% of Malaysian women have experienced sexual harassment compared to men (19%).
Based on the report by the United Nations, 73% of women and girls have experienced online violence, also known as cyber disruptions. This report has shown that sexual harassment on social media is a serious issue in today's world. Furthermore, females are more likely than males to be sexually harassed (Omar et al., 2018). Nevertheless, this issue has received little attention in Malaysia because it is considered a taboo issue and cannot be discussed in public, which is the main reason why the number of cases of sexual harassment on social media in the country is increasing day by day, and the majority of victims were young females.
The Women’s Aid Organisation (2022) elucidated that there were 226 females and 41 males of sexual harassment survivors recorded. Adding to that, it is also stated that youth are the main victims as those aged 18 years old and above are the main victims of sexual harassment. Not only that, based on the data from Royal Malaysia Police, the number of sexual harassment cases reported by state in Malaysia in 2017 showed the highest cases reported in Kuala Lumpur with 17.2%, followed by Johor with 16.5%, Selangor with 15.7% and Perak with 8.6%. In fact, the most popular social media applications that have been misused by users in Malaysia are Facebook, with 70%, followed by Whatsapp, and Twitter (Statista Research Department, 2021). Hence, this study seeks to investigate the use of social media and its relationship with online sexual harassment among female youths in Perak.
2. Literature Review
We only need the internet, smartphones, and social media these days since they are all essential components of modern life. On social media, also known as electronic communication, where people can more quickly get information with just their fingertips and one click, we can find anything we want to search for. We can easily communicate with our friends and relatives who are located all over the world as a result. Morehead et al. (2013) claim that social media serves as a communication tool for disseminating
content. Social media is a platform for communication that enables users to interact with millions, if not billions, of people worldwide (Williams et al., 2012).
Social media usage is becoming a must for daily life and can be used for a number of purposes to meet our demands. This is in line with the findings of Keipi, Koiranen, Koivula, and Rasanen (2018), who claimed that social media use, particularly on Instagram and WhatsApp, had a favourable correlation with a person's degree of pleasure. More than 3.6 billion people globally use social media, according to a Statista analysis from 2021, and that number is anticipated to reach to 4.41 billion by 2025, making it one of the most popular online pastimes.
Manning (2014) makes the point that social media enables users to develop relationships in a variety of ways, carry out tasks, find and share information, and lastly engage in amusement. Users of Facebook, for instance, can access, share, upload, and download content from online groups and communities at any time to pursue common interests.
Facebook's users are constantly present in their lives, which has a certain social impact.
UGT-based research shows that meeting new people, gratifying teens' urge to belong, and being entertained with the aim of filling up free time, taking a break, and having fun are some of the gratifications explicitly sought by adolescents in social media (Lopez, Hartmann & Apaolaza, 2019).
The use of social media, however, is now perceived more negatively than positively.
6,725 complaints against the unauthorized use of communication and social media platforms were made to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in 2017 (Pejabat Setiausaha Kerajaan Negeri Perak, 2017). In 2020, more complaints regarding social media abuse are anticipated. The number of complaints against social media abuse has climbed from the previous year, with some of the complaints received involving pornographic content, fake news, and sexual harassment of youngsters (Ministry of Communications and Digital, 2022).
According to Maghfiroh and Muqoddam (2019), sexual harassment is a sort of harassment that makes a person feel uneasy and disturbed. Any act of gender-based violence against women that causes or is likely to cause them physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering, including threats of such acts, coercion, or arbitrarily denying them their freedom, whether it takes place in public or private life, is referred to as sexual harassment (World Health Organisation, 2022). Online and offline sexual harassment are the two main categories of harassment. In face-to-face social settings, offline sexual harassment is a frequent occurrence (Ojanen et al., 2015).
Statistics indicate that more than 500,000 people aged 18 and older have been victims of cyber harassment in the United States alone (Pew Research Centre, 2018). Gender harassment and unwanted sexual attention are two of the many reasons why women are frequently victims of online harassment on social media. There is no denying that the use of social media contributes significantly to the occurrence of online harassment.
According to recent reports by non-governmental organisation (NGO) Women's Rights, the Malaysian Movement Control Order (MCO) has also resulted in an increase in online sexual harassment cases as a result of the longer a person spends time on social media (FMT Reporter, 2020). Statista (2022) data also revealed that internet users spend 144 minutes per day on social media and messaging apps, a more than half-hour increase since 2015. As a result, there is a high likelihood of social media abuse and online harassment. The proliferation of technological devices and online communication
mediums makes people more vulnerable to online harassment or stalking (Abaido, 2019).
3. Methodology 3.1. Research design
The questionnaire was divided into three sections. The first section of the questionnaire is the demographic background of participants includes age, district, education level, race, and marital status. The second section covers the online sexual harassment question which was adapted from Questionnaire of Online Sexual Solicitation and Interactions with Adults by Gamez et al., (2018). This section includes 17 questions designed to assess the level of online sexual harassment with five different level scales ranging from never (1), once or twice (2), occasionally (3), frequently (4), and most of the time (5). The total score from all 17 questions shows the level of sexual harassment experienced by those respondents. This implies that the higher the score, the higher the frequency of those who were subjected to sexual harassment. The third section covers the social media usage section. The questions for this section were adapted from the European Institute for Gender Equality (2017). There were seven (7) questions that were assessed using 5 Likert Scales; ranging from strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, and strongly agree. Altogether they were 29 questions comprised in three sections.
3.2. Population and Sampling
According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (2022), the number of females in Perak was 1.24 million. By using the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) Table, there was 384 samples. According to the World Health Organization, the age range of youths is 15 to 24 years old. The sample technique chosen is cluster sampling. This is because the researchers would like to select female respondents from age 15 to 24 years old from all districts in Perak. This study has chosen Perak as the location because it has one of the highest recorded statistics for sexual harassment cases (Women Aids Organisation, 2022). Because the likelihood of sexual harassment cases occurring on social media is higher than on other media platforms, this study chose the social media platform as an avenue for the research.
3.3. Data collection
The questionnaire's data collection section is divided into three sections: demographics, the social media usage and the online sexual harassment. Prior to the questionnaire distribution, the respondents were given consent letter so that all those respondents would feel secure when answering the questionnaires. The researchers distributed the online survey to the respondents based on the locality of the respondents. If the selected areas have been fulfilled, the researchers would continue to distribute the survey to the remaining districts that were still unfulfilled. The data was collected for about three months using social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook and email.
3.4. Data Analysis
The data were analysed using SPSS version 26 using descriptive and inferential statistics to gather the relevant answer based on the prescribed research objectives.
4. Result
4.1. Demographic background
The first section of the questionnaire is about the demographic section. In this section, five questions have been asked to the respondents; age, race, marital status, education level and locality. Based on Table 1, all respondents were female (N= 384, 100.0%) with Malay (N=286, 74.5%) dominated the races distribution. Majority of the respondents are single (N=345, 89.8%), followed by married (N=39, 10.2%). Most of them are having undergraduate background (N=327, 85.2%) followed by secondary school (N=41, 10.7%) and postgraduate (N=16, 4.1%). For the participants’ locality, majority of them are residing at Muallim area (N= 126, 32.8%), followed by Kinta (N= 68, 17.7%), Kuala Kangsar (N= 27, 7.0%), Larut and Matang (N=26, 6.8%), Perak Tengah (N= 24, 6.3%) and others. For the age category, majority of them are from 21 to 24 years old (N= 369, 96.1%), followed by 16 to 20 years old (N=8, 2.1%) and 25 to 29 years old (N=7, 1.8%).
Table 1: Demographic background of respondents
Variables Total (N) Percent
Age
16-20 8 2.1
21-24 years old 369 96.1
25 - 29 years old 7 1.8
Race
Malay 286 74.5
Indian 32 8.3
Chinese 17 4.4
Others 49 12.7
Marital status
Single 345 89.8
Married 39 10.2
Education level
Secondary school 41 10.7
Undergraduate 327 85.2
Postgraduate 16 4.1
Locality
Batang Padang 21 5.5
Muallim 126 32.8
Hilir Perak 21 5.5
Hulu Perak 18 4.7
Kampar 15 3.9
Kuala Kangsar 27 7.0
Kerian 17 4.4
Kinta 68 17.7
Larut & Matang 26 6.8
Perak Tengah 24 6.3
Selama 21 5.5
4.2. Social Media Usage
In this section, participants were asked the social media use to identify the level of social media use among female youth. The social media use had been categorised to three levels; low, moderate and high usage. The low usage was categorised based on less than
three hours of spending per day, moderate is between three to five hours of spending per day and high is from five hours and above per day. Based on the Table 2, majority of the female youth had moderate level of social media use (N=195, 50.8%), followed by low usage (N=100,26.0) and high usage (N=89, 23.2%).
Table 2: Social media usage
Social Media Use Frequency (N) Percentage (%)
Low (less than 3 hours) 100 26.0
Moderate (3 to 5 hours) 195 50.8
High (more than 5 hours) 89 23.2
4.3. Sexual harassment propensity
In this section, participants were asked the sexual harassment propensity. This question was developed to identify the sexual harassment propensity among female youth. The sexual harassment propensity was reported based on the occurrence of incident happened to them. Based on Table 3, majority of the female youth reported to have low occurrences of sexual harassment (N=297, 77.3%), followed by moderate (N=56, 14.6%) and high occurrences (N=31, 8.1%).
Table 3: Propensity of sexual harassment
Social Media Use Frequency (N) Percentage (%)
Low (less than 3 occurrences) 297 77.3
Moderate (3 to 5 occurrences) 56 14.6
High (more than 5 occurrences) 31 8.1
4.4. The Social Media Use and Sexual Harassment
In this section, the researchers would like to know the relationship between social media use and sexual harassment propensity. Based on Table 4, it can be described that the r value is 0.453 and p value is 0.00. According to Guilford's Rule of Thumb .453 is considered positive and indicates a moderate relationship between the two variables;
social media use and sexual harassment propensity. Hence, there is a significant relationship between social media use and sexual harassment propensity among female youth.
Table 4: Relationship of social media use and sexual harassment propensity
Variables r p
Social media use .453 .000
Sexual harassment propensity 5. Discussion
It was discovered that the level of social media usage was moderate. However, several respondents were reported to have high and low level of social media usage. Similarly, it was discovered that the level of sexual harassment propensity was low. Only a small percentage of our respondents had moderate to severe sexual harassment propensity.
This indicates that sexual harassment propensity is present among the respondents, but at a very low level. According to WHO (2022), sexual harassment involves a course of
action in which an adult individual or groups of individuals use digital media to cause another individual to suffer emotional distress. Studies show that women are more exposed to cyber harassment compared to male (WHO, 2022). Sexual harassment that prevails on the Net appear in the form of gender harassment and unwanted sexual attention. For example, it can be verbal and graphical form. Unsolicited verbal and visual statements and remarks that harass individuals because of their identity or are an invitation to evoke bad feelings are identified and also occurs when the harasser uses intimate contact to communicate sexually inclined signals such as sex organs of the victim, sex life of the victim, intimate issues, images or sounds linked to sex (Barak, 2005).
It is analyzed that most of the respondent stated strongly disagree on the question “Has anyone said gross or harsh dirty words or things to you?”, “Has anyone said offensive things about how you look, your body, or your privacy life?”, “Has anyone left a sexual comment or posted a picture of you?” and etc. This indicate that they have never faced this situation while browsing the internet or using social media. Apart from that, the question provided is quite sensitive to be questioned, as stated by Selangor Women's Fraternity Association (PPPWS). This issue has received little attention in Malaysia because it is considered a taboo issue and cannot be discussed in public New Straits Times (March 10, 2019). Most victims will just remain silent, so that could be the reasons of why sexual harassment propensity was reported to be low among the respondents.
Past studies have revealed that there was strong relationship between online sexual harassment and social media usage. This is supported by recent reports by Non- Government Organization (NGO) Women Right's state that the Malaysian Movement Control Order (MCO) had caused an increase in online sexual harassment cases because of the duration people spend on social media (FMT Reporter, 2020). It was supported by Gorkemli (2017) when he conducted a study of middle-class students. It was shown that they access to the he internet to obtain information about sex-related matters.
Throughout this research, researchers have encountered a number of challenges such this issue has been considered as one of the sensitive issues to be discussed by Malaysians. Malaysia is located in Southeast Asian country and practice Asian values. In Asian country, discussing about sex issue is a taboo. Thus, this is one of the sensitive topics that is not usually been discussed in public. Hence, that could be challenged for the researchers to really know whether the respondents are reported the truth. Then, the researchers have conducted this study in Perak, one of the states located in Northern Malaysia. As reported in the newspapers, Perak has been ranked fourth in sexual harassment propensity. However, this data is not merely representing the whole nations since the reported data was obtained in 2017 and it is limited to Perak State residents.
There is a possibility that the number of cases has decreased or increased. Thus, it is recommended that the future researchers can further this study in qualitative method such as focus group discussion or interview and to obtain the latest and recent data from Department of Statistics Malaysia in order to reflect the recent trend on the issue.
The upcoming research can also concentrate on both gender (men and women) as this study was limited to female. Hence, it is recommended that future studies be conducted for both genders, as the current trend also showed men are in the rising victims of sexual harassment (Acquadro et al., 2022). Another recommendation is to expand the scope of the study to include the four major states with the highest number of online sexual harassment cases. It is hoped that future studies could be expanded the study location to
the four states with the highest sexual harassment cases such as Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor and Perak so that more accurate results can be obtained.
6. Conclusion
This study was carried out in Perak and involves female youths aged between 15 to 24 years old. Based on the results presented, the social media use among female youth were moderate with the sexual harassment propensity was low. Although the social media use was moderate and the propensity of sexual harassment was low, the relationship between social media use and sexual harassment propensity, was turned out to be significant. Hence, it can be understood that every user has the chance or tendency to be the victim of sexual harassment. Therefore, monitoring the language and content is also another important thing that need to be considered while using the social media.
Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate
Informed consent was obtained from all participants beforehand. Participants have to give consent to participate in this study. Participants can withdraw from the study at any point of time.
Acknowledgement Part of this article Funding
This study received no funding.
Conflict of Interests
The author reported no conflicts of interest for this work and declare that there is no potential conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship, or publication of this article.
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