‘Haw’ Lilly!’ is the tip of the iceberg and no laughing matter | Angele Deguara

When in April 2018, the laws and penalties about sexual harassment were changed, there was a huge media overreaction. The news went viral and, as often happens, the facts were twisted to the extent that rather than sending the message that sexual harassment is a serious crime that needs to be taken more seriously, it became trivialised. There were those who laughed it off and others who expressed their anger and incredulity that someone shouting an “Haw’ Lilly!” from a car, at work or in the street could be imprisoned for up to two years or fined up to €10,000. “Haw’ Lilly” became a national joke.

Misunderstanding abounds about the meaning and experience of sexual harassment as well as about its possible reasons and consequences. Sexual harassment is not just about catcalling but about any unwanted or unwelcome behaviour having sexual connotations. Calling out “Haw’ Lilly” to a woman is only the tip of the iceberg. It is also far from a laughing matter even though sexual harassment often lurks behind ‘jokes’. A basic understanding of sexual harassment is that if a victim reasonably considers any behaviour, words, pictures, gestures, looks, suggestions, messages, jokes or any other form of sexual content directed at them or about them as offending, unwanted, unwelcome, then that is sexual harassment, regardless of whether the perpetrator meant to harass or offend the victim.

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Sexual harassment is a real problem which is experienced more by women than by men and is therefore a gendered issue. It takes different forms and occurs in different contexts such as in the street, at work, and not least online. Recently, virtual sexual harassment, revenge porn, sexual intimidation, comments with sexual implications, stalking, as well as the harassment of feminists who speak against such harassment have become common. Catcalling, unwelcome jokes, digital messages, unwelcome sexual advancements, touching another person while talking to them, persistent invitations for dates, gawking and any other such behaviour which may cause discomfort, annoyance, humiliation, fear or trauma to another person are all forms of sexual harassment.

Data collected in 2018 by Men against Violence and the Women’s Rights Foundation revealed that sexual harassment is rather common and that the trends in Malta are not dissimilar to those of other European countries (1). Three fourths of women reported being harassed at work; men to a lesser extent. Although harassment may not always be visible, about one fifth of men in the study reported seeing their female colleagues being sexually harassed.

In Malta, sexual harassment is a criminal offence in terms of Article 251A of the Criminal Code. Malta ratified the Council of Europe’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the Istanbul Convention. The Convention considers sexual harassment as a form of violence which should be criminalised and punishable by law. Article 40 of the Convention refers to sexual harassment as “any form of unwanted verbal, non‐verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person, in particular when creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment”.

Chapter 456 of the Laws of Malta - Equality for Men and Women Act, Article 9, claims that, “Without prejudice to the provisions of article 29 of the Employment and Industrial Relations Act (Cap 452), it shall be unlawful for any person to sexually harass other persons, that is to say: (a) to subject other persons to an act of physical intimacy; or (b) to request sexual favours from other persons; or (c) to subject other persons to any act or conduct with sexual connotations, including spoken words, gestures or the production, display or circulation of any written words, pictures or other material, where the act, words or conduct is unwelcome to the persons to whom they are directed and could reasonably be regarded as offensive, humiliating or intimidating to the persons to whom they are directed; or (d) the persons so subjected or requested are treated less favourably by reason of such persons’ rejection of or submission to such subjection or request, it could reasonably be anticipated that such persons would be so treated.

The quandary, of course, is that sexual harassment is difficult to prove. It may be a case of the victim’s word against their perpetrator. Even if there is proof that the act took place, and the harasser is identified, it is still difficult to prove that it was actually unwelcome. Sexual harassment cases are often in the news, although they inevitably tend to be underreported due to fear of the perpetrator, lack of proof, lack of trust in the justice system, fear of ridicule, of losing one’s job or of being blamed for instigating the harassment. The same Times of Malta article reports that one third of respondents participating in the survey considered the victim to be partly to blame for being harassed. Victim blaming may even occur in a court of law, when victims are asked what they were wearing. As the recently reported case of sexual harassment allegedly involving officials of the National Philharmonic Orchestra suggests, victims may be intimidated into silence. We have heard of cases where victims could not report the case when it happened, where the justice system dismissed harassment cases on the premise that boys will be boys or by meting out ridiculous sentences. None of this helps the fight against sexual harassment and to ensure that justice is carried out.

Sexual harassment often involves a power relationship. It is a reflection of a much broader and more serious social problem: a gendered, unequal, patriarchal society where women are considered to be sexual objects to be used and abused at will. Laws and harsher penalties on their own will not solve the problem. Problems such as sexual harassment and any other form of violence where the majority of victims are women will not go away unless we fight the roots and all the branches of patriarchy.

References

Carabott, S. (2018). Three out of every four women are sexually harassed at work. Times of Malta