Female personal trainer calls out male personal trainer for repeatedly touching rear of female trainee in S'pore gym

Not acceptable.

Belmont Lay | August 04, 2020, 05:10 PM

Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg

A female personal trainer in Singapore took to her Instagram account on Aug. 3 to publicly call out inappropriate touching by a male personal trainer inflicted upon his female charge in a gym where they trained together.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDbPbwaHecy/

Cheryl Loh, who goes by the handle @cherylfit_sg, put up a video of the incident, as well as her subsequent text exchange with the female trainee.

What video showed

The video showed the back view of the female trainee who was carrying out exercises, and the male fitness trainer in a mask who repeatedly touched her rear with his hand.

The male trainer's face was obscured as he was wearing a face mask.

The photo that Loh shared was of a screen shot of her text conversation with the female trainee to let her know that what was witnessed in the gym was inappropriate behaviour.

Loh also informed the trainee to voice out if she ever felt uncomfortable.

The Apeiro gym where the incident took place is located at Prinsep Street.

Not employed by the gym

Loh's Instagram post revealed that the male trainer was not employed by the gym, but he used the premises as a freelance instructor.

Loh wrote: "The coach in this video is a freelance trainer working by himself, and is not an employee of the gym."

Loh added: "I have reached out to the client to let her know that it is NOT normal for such physical interaction during training, it is very unprofessional, and that she can speak up if she have felt uncomfortable about her coach touching inappropriately and groping during some exercises."

Exchange with female trainee

In her text message to the female trainee, Loh informed the victim that the type of physical interaction she witnessed was not normal.

Loh also related that she was a victim of sexual assault before that was committed by her former coach, who had abused his authority as she was unaware what were the boundaries, but instead trusted him as he was a figure of authority.

Loh also wrote that no police report was filed for this incident.

The female trainee replied Loh and revealed that she had repeatedly told the male personal trainer not to touch her, but she said she was told he wanted "to check my muscle".

Gym response

The gym subsequently responded via an Instagram Story.

It said it had "taken action" against the trainer, but did not specify what steps were taken.

The male trainer was not identified in all the various social media posts.

Loh's post can be viewed in full here:

❌ 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗔𝗕𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗬 𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵/𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿 -- 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱 -- ❌

When the other party is not comfortable with such action, this is considered a case of sexual assault. It is a very serious offence in Singapore, and unfortunately this has happened way too many times with coaches abusing their position and authority to do things like that. I personally consider this more despicable and disturbing than molesting a stranger - this is using the student's trust to commit such an act, which can really mindfuck a person for a long time.The coach in this video is a freelance trainer working by himself, and is not an employee of the gym.

I have reached out to the client (swipe to second image) to let her know that it is NOT normal for such physical interaction during training, it is very unprofessional, and that she can speak up if she have felt uncomfortable about her coach touching inappropriately and groping during some exercises. Also spoke to her (not on text), and it turned out this was indeed her first time having a coach, facing such situation for the first time. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗺 "don't touch my butt" a few times over 7 training sessions, but he still went ahead to do so, using "checking muscles" as an excuse - which many trainers will know that's complete BS.

𝗔𝗽𝗲𝗶𝗿𝗼 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗺 from using the gym space to conduct his own PT sessions - with effect from 2 August - and the client has now stopped training with him. She will not be making a police report, but she has given me the permission to share about this as she also wants all women, girls, or even guys out there to know that this behaviour is not acceptable and that nobody should put up with any actions that make them feel uneasy, uncomfortable, and disrespected. Anyone that feels this way should speak up and not let the perpetrator has his/her way. #ShareThisPost

I am very glad that @apeirolife doesn't tolerate such behaviour, and I'm happy to be conducting my PT sessions in a safe, fun, and professional space with other likeminded professional trainers.