Alleged Harassment Perpetrators At KPI Will Report Back MS: Please Distinguish Cheating From Bullying

Illustration (Pixabay/Wokandaix)

JAKARTA - The case of alleged harassment and bullying experienced by MS, a KPI employee, has entered a new phase. MS will face lawsuits against the reported case. What is even more astonishing is the argument built by the lawyers for the reported claiming that the actions taken by his client, such as slavery, are commonplace and are considered to be a joke or a prank.

The news of the report back to MS was revealed by Tegar Putuhena as the attorney for the two reported parties when he visited the Central Jakarta Police Headquarters. Tegar Putuhena believes that MS has no solid evidence.

"So far, what we have found is that there is no incident, the 2015 incident which was alleged to have gone viral, does not exist, is not supported by any evidence," said Tegar Putuhena to reporters at the Central Jakarta Metro Police, Monday yesterday.

Meanwhile, another lawyer for the reported party, Anton, said that the reports made on the 2015 and 2017 incidents could not be proven. He said that although the viral results mentioned slavery, he called it a joke or a joke, which is a common thing.

"Even if there is a problem in the release about slavery, then it's normal for our language to be whined. Even if someone is asked to buy food, it's often changed. For example, someone buys food. That also applies to the examinee now," said Anton to reporters, 6 September yesterday.

Tegar Putuhena and Anton, the lawyers for the reported/ Photo: Rizky Sulistio/ VOI

A little reminiscence, it all started when the victim with the initials MS has been bullied since 2012. According to her confession, which went viral on social media, she was treated like a slave by her work colleagues.

At its peak, in 2015 the perpetrators were abuzz with holding heads, hands, feet, stripping, pinning, and sexually harassing them. MS has reported to the police. But unfortunately. The report at the Gambir Sector Police in 2019 was not received and he was asked to resolve the problem internally.

Previously it was explained that the KPI employee reported being a victim of sexual harassment by his office colleagues. Then the police asked for proof and he couldn't provide any evidence.

There is a power relationship

In many cases, bullying occurs due to a sense of superiority that arises within the perpetrator. When he feels he meets an individual who looks weaker, that's when bullying occurs. And unfortunately, according to the sociologist from UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Tantan Hermansyah, our society has a bad culture, namely when someone feels that a senior can make him lose his mind.

"It takes nobility to overcome this. That is the spirit of democracy, where senior problems can be eliminated," said Tantan when contacted by VOI.

In the context of MS, he has been bullied in KPI's work environment since 2012. For several years, according to his confession, he received bullying, slavery, and sexual harassment.

Citing the journal The Nature and Causes of Bullying at Work by Staele Einarsen, based on an employee survey conducted by the University of Finland, there are many reasons for bullying in the workplace. These problems are about status and job position, jealousy, and distrust of the perpetrator. Another study among 95 victims belonging to the Union of Municipal Officials showed similar results.

In this study, 68 percent saw jealousy as the reason for bullying, followed by weak superiors (42 percent), competition for assignments or advancement (38 percent) and even bullying carried out with the approval of superiors (34 percent). The study confirms that the likelihood of bullying in the office environment is quite high.

But even more heartbreaking than the case of MS bullying, the reported cases of bullying and sexual harassment seemed to sharpen the problem by reporting back MS on the basis of defamation. One of the lawyers reported, Anton, even seemed to consider slavery trivial.

Anton considers that bullying is a common thing. He considered the ridicule that was uttered had a joking context. As long as, said Anton, it is still within reasonable limits.

"I'm sure my friends too, if people are familiar, it's normal to be rich as long as it's still within reasonable limits. That's normal," added Anton to reporters.

Bullying is nothing funny

Teasing or teasing or teasing is very different from bullying. Quoting Psychology Today, mocking or joking can also turn into bullying. The distinction between whining and bullying is important, because teasing and bullying are socially very different.

Ridicule can be an ambiguous social exchange that is friendly, neutral, but can be negative. How this exchange turns out really depends on how the person being ridiculed reacts.

If it causes laughter for him and others maybe the goal is really joking, it's familiar. and no shame. If he gets angry and treats the joke as if it were an enemy, in this case the next joke will feel more negative and it can no longer be considered a joke. Usually if this is the case, the whining must be stopped.

Illustration (Unsplash/Volkan Olmez)

But for bullying not so. Because there is intimidation from the perpetrator to hurt the victim. Bullying causes embarrassment to the victim. People who do bullying usually also feel the pleasure of being in power. Bullies who put others down in an attempt to elevate themselves don't realize how bad their behavior is.

When viewed from the context of the MS case and senior KPI, it is impossible if it was just a whimper like that because it caused trauma to MS. MS does not just receive scorn, but is enslaved, humiliated, and sexually abused.

joking limit

This is in line with the explanation given by psychologist Kasandra Putranto. Looking at the boundaries of jokes and bullying, the first thing we see is through the eyes of the victim. If the victim feels humiliated and hurt, this includes bullying and even harassment.

"The criteria are not in the perspective of the perpetrator but in the perspective of the victim, when it is carried out without the consent of the victim and causes a reaction of shame, feeling of being harassed and humiliated," Kasandra said when contacted by VOI.ID.

Kasandra also stated that in the Guidelines for the Prevention of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace of the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, it is also very clear what the definition of harassment and sexual harassment is. The guidelines on page 5 explain that harassment is carried out by abusing power so that the victim has difficulty in defending himself.

Harassment in the workplace is an unwanted, repetitive and unreasonable act, even causing difficulties in carrying out tasks or causing workers to feel that they are working in a company climate that is not harmonious. It also poses a risk to the health and safety of workers.

Still based on these guidelines, it is also explained that sexual harassment is an unwanted sexual act, a request to perform a sexual act, a verbal or physical act or gesture of a sexual nature, or any other behavior of a sexual nature, which makes a person feel offended, humiliated and/or or intimidated.

So when viewed from the case of MS, the treatment that has been carried out by seniors at KPI is no longer stated as mere whining but harassment and even sexual harassment. Given that there are indecent things done that make MS intimidated and traumatized.

Seeing this bullying case, it can't be fixed from the perspective of the perpetrator. Because from the start, the victim himself understood better how to deal with humiliation, was intimidated, and was even unable to defend himself with the law enforcement agencies.

*Read other information about bullying or read other interesting articles from Ramdan Febrian Arifin.

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