February 09, 2017, 10:01 PM 
The Singapore Police Force has once again come under fire for not treating sexual assault with enough gravity and sensitivity.
This latest incident was recounted in a Facebook post, which has been making the rounds online since Feb. 8, 2017.
The post by Amanda Lai recounted the experience of her two female colleagues, who were allegedly harassed by two men outside an eatery in Telok Ayer, and one of them was subsequently molested:
This year's office lohei was at Mouth Restaurant on Cross Street. Dinner was winding down, and two of my female colleagues, T and R walked out to use the building's restroom at about 9.30 PM. The restroom is approximately 20 m away from the restaurant’s main entrance, which faces the main road. As they were coming out of the restroom and walking back to the restaurant, the corridor was blocked by two men. They announced that they were from Portugal after trying to guess T and R’s country of origin, and blocked T and R's way back to the restaurant. One of the 2 men then proceeded to harass T her and asked her to take her shirt off and show him her boobs. T said 'NO' repeatedly, and instead of backing off, the man moved towards her, picked her up off the floor and molested her. #nomeansno
To add insult to injury, not only were the alleged perpetrators not apprehended, the woman who was allegedly molested was subsequently questioned by the police if she really wanted to pursue the case by making a police report:
So my colleague T filed a police report the next day. She had to endure an unpleasant interview by the police officer, who prefixed the interview by saying, "Are you sure you want to do this? If this goes to court, you'll need to testify...." and then concluding with, "Are you sure they weren't just trying to be friendly? You know, ang moh culture is different from ours..."
Seriously? This is the response from the police officer?
SHAME ON YOU!
You can view the Facebook post here:
In response to queries for comment, the police said they are currently looking into the matter.
However, this is not the first time the police has come under fire for not reacting to sexual crime with enough sensitivity.
During a crime-prevention talk for Secondary 2 students at the School of the Arts on Jan. 16, a male police officer reportedly told female students to be mindful of their attire, or else, they might attract unwanted attention.
The officer’s remarks were interpreted by some students as a form of victim-shaming, as it holds the girl’s attire responsible for provoking the perpetrator into sexually assaulting her.
This led to two parents voicing their concerns on Facebook.
Related article:
S’pore police to be more sensitive approaching sexual assault crime talk with teens
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