More than 320 voyeurism cases were reported in Singapore up to September last year. Experts explain what drives upskirt offenders to chase “the thrill and the trophy”.
SINGAPORE: When she felt someone standing close behind her on the escalator, her first thought was that the person was not keeping a safe distance. She did not suspect harmful intentions.
She held on tightly to the man’s shirt as he tried to get away, dragging her past several shopfronts. She shouted for help, screaming that he had taken photos of her underwear. After thinking about the incident and talking it over with friends, she changed her mind. “I decided to make the police report the next day because I feel that if I let him go, I’m giving him a chance to victimise ,” she said., was convicted and sentenced to 36 weeks’ jail in October after pleading guilty to voyeurism.
There is no single proven cause for upskirt offending, said Dr Janice Tan, principal clinical psychologist of HEALing Werkz. “Within a group setting, individuals might be instigated by their peers to commit acts to prove their ‘courage’ or to win a dare,” she said. They may develop a “tolerance” to pornography, needing to view more and for a longer time to achieve the same effect. When unable to view pornography, they may feel preoccupied, which could be a sign of behavioural addiction.
Many cases reported by CNA have involved offenders with multiple convictions or offenders who, despite being caught for the first time, kept up their conduct over a prolonged period. The perception that there is no harm to the victim in upskirt offences reduces traditional psychological barriers to offending, said Ms Fong.
She pointed to voyeuristic disorder, which requires at least six months of experiencing recurrent and intense sexual arousal from observing an unsuspecting person who is naked, disrobing or engaging in sexual activity. “This framing of sexual violence as medical, instead of gendered and sociological, robs the behaviours of necessary cultural context,” said Ms Corinna Lim, AWARE’s executive director.
“Like all forms of gender-based violence, voyeurism is about power and control, and a disregard of women's consent and agency.” While many of these traits are not inherently healthy or unhealthy, they are sometimes taken to “violent extremes” to demonstrate one’s masculinity, said Ms Lim. Celine only moved past those thoughts after coming to the conclusion that “I'm not skimpily dressed, I'm properly dressed”. But for some time after the incident, she still modified her own behaviour by wearing shorts under her skirts.VICTIM TOLD TO “GET OVER IT”
Once, Celine said, an acquaintance told her: “You should be happy because I’m sure he took photos of you because you’re good-looking.” “In cases of upskirting, the survivor may experience long-lasting anxiety and lack of control as she wonders if her pictures are being shared online by strangers, and how this may impact her career, relationships and other aspects of her life moving forward,” said Ms Lim.
The offender can also view or replay the images captured anytime and anywhere, and there is a further risk of the images being disseminated online, she added.BALANCING PUNISHMENT AND REHABILITATION Another way to reduce such crime is for people with voyeuristic urges to seek treatment before the law catches up with them. But they rarely come forward due to social stigma and the legal repercussions if they have acted on their impulses before, said psychologist Dr Chow.
Rehabilitation should be the primary sentencing consideration if the upskirt offender suffers from certain psychiatric conditions that contributed to his behaviour, said Ms Khoo. “If there is evidence to support that the offender is not able to control his actions due to his disorder, punishment would be ineffective as it does not treat the underlying cause of the offending behaviour.”
Treatment for voyeuristic impulses combines medication, typically to suppress impulsive behaviours and lower sexual urges, as well as psychotherapy.
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