Harassment in the Singapore Tech Community
Members of the Singapore Tech Community, I would like to touch on the sensitive issue of harassment (including sexual harassment) in the community. Unbeknownst to many of us, this has been happening in Singapore for a while. It is not something that only plagues our western counterparts. It is happening within our shores.
As a leader in the community, I have personally received messages from members of the community who have experienced harassment. In the past few instances of receiving the complaints, we (myself along with other community leaders in the SingaporeJS, SingaporeCSS and JuniorDevSG meetup groups) have banned individuals from our meetup group activities. The culprits were notified and removed from all chats and user groups pages.
However, this does not mean the individuals have repented or the harassment has stopped. New people are being targeted.
Zero Tolerance Policy
Which prompts me to make this statement: We have a zero tolerance policy on harassment of any kind.
If we receive reports of harassment of members in our community, we will take action to exclude the culprit from further activities in order to ensure that our community remains a safe space for our members.
For the affected community members, we do not want you to suffer in silence. If anyone asks questions or says inappropriate things that make you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, please inform us. We want to help you, and if need be, take action against these bad actors in our community. And if necessary, legal recourse - for example, Protection from Harassment Act.
Ways of Reporting
You can email the report to report@engineers.sg or @miccheng on Telegram. Your identity will be kept secret.
You should also speak to the Admin of the group chats where you and the culprit are in. The culprit might also be targeting other members in that group.
Safe Community
We want the Singapore Tech Community to be a diverse and inclusive place, where everyone can feel safe in sharing knowledge and growing together in our craft.
Thank you for doing your part. 🙇♂️
Top comments (2)
The maximum punishment for the offense of intentionally causing harassment, alarm or distress is a fine of up to $5,000 and/or an imprisonment term of up to 6 months. These maximum penalties are doubled for repeat offenders. But this is such bullshit in my opinion! Those people have to go to jail, and not for 1 or 2 years, but for 8 years minimum. Otherwise, harassment will continue, and the number will even grow. And for the victims, I would suggest that they hire a sexual harassment attorney and find a professional psychologist because such a case might cause you a lot of mental damage.
The maximum punishment for the offense of intentionally causing harassment, alarm or distress is a fine of up to $5,000 and/or an imprisonment term of up to 6 months. These maximum penalties are doubled for repeat offenders.