Malaysian actor Fikry Ibrahim recently opened up about his experience of sexual harassment and how it had severely affected his emotional state even though it was only verbal.
In a recent online interview to promote his upcoming TV series “Nusyuz Berkiblat Cinta”, the 27-year-old celeb revealed that he was once harassed by a woman while he was filming a drama. Sadly enough, this wasn’t the only time he found himself experiencing the uncomfortable situation.
“I can recall during one time I was changing my clothes at a filming location, there was a lady coming in, and I had to wait for her to exit first. She made a remark (‘alah tak luak pun’) about me flaunting my physical body publicly and I found that disturbing. I have encountered several situations like this. I thought to myself, what if I commented something similar about her body, is it considered sexual harassment?” Fikry shared.
The “Kerana Dia Suka” star added, “I’m sensitive to those words. For me, if I say the same thing, will they be offended? Do they think they’re allowed to do that because I’m a man? Although it is not an extreme form of bullying, I consider it sexual harassment, and it has somehow affected my emotional well-being. If this mindset is not corrected, it will become normalised.”
“We always hear about women being victims of sexual harassment. But unknowingly, this happens to men too. For instance, if we talk about certain parts of a woman’s body, they will say that it’s insensitive. But on the other hand, when it comes to the opposing gender, they consider it as normal. Whereas the subject under discussion is the same. I don’t find this sensitive, but for others, it can be humiliating and degrading. Worse, it can even lead to depression,” Fikry said.
Hopefully after this, more male victims will be able to come forth and speak out against sexual harassment.
