A petition with 43 signatories sent to a women’s NGO claims that a member who had allegedly sexually assaulted another had been elected as an office bearer of the organisation.

The signatories, complete with full names and IC numbers,  pointed to a complaint letter lodged with the All Women’s Action Society (Awam) in 2010 where one of its prominent member is alleged to have "sexually assaulted" another by grabbing her breast.

The prominent member is also described in the petition, obtained by Malaysiakini , as "a leading figure" in the Malaysian women's movement.

"An inquiry was conducted and the accused was found guilty of the charge," claimed the petition sent in September this year.

"However, in March this year, Awam appointed the perpetrator of the sexual assault as an office bearer of the organisation," the petition added.

According to the petitioners, this aspect of the alleged perpetrator's history was not made known to Awam members before the elections.

Awam, they claimed, has also not required her to go undergo any form of therapy or counselling for her alleged problem.

"Many of us have supported the women’s movement for a long time in its fight against gender discrimination.

"We have tried to address this issue privately so that Awam's action need not result in a large scale backlash against all the organisations and individuals who have worked so hard to compaing for women's rights in our country," they added.

 'I wanted molester to get treatment'

When contacted, the victim, who spoke under strict anonymity, claimed the alleged molestation happened on April 8, 2009, and that she only lodged a complaint a year later.

"This is because in that year, I was trying to convince the perpetrator to seek help for her problem," said the victim, a woman who hails from Kuala Lumpur.

"She and I had been friends for 16 years, I did not want to shame her publicly but I wanted her to get treatment so she would not do it again.

"When it became clear she would not do so; and when she started telling friends it was a case of playing gone too far, I filed the complaint," stressed the woman, adding that she had the necessary documents to back her claims.

The victim, who is in her early forties and holds a professional job, said that many have contacted Awam to express their dismay on this issue.

However, they felt disturbed that an organisation which calls itself a "feminist"group, and which fights violence against women, should put a perpetrator of sexual assault into office.

“To make it worse, other women's organisations working on gender equality also knew about the issue but remained silent and thus have been complicit in the cover up".

Awam: Member elected, not promoted to key position

When contacted last week, Awam president Ho Yock Lin initially said the organisation would respond to the matter officially by Tuesday but since told Malaysiakini that Awam has decided to rework a fresh response by Sunday.

NONE Meanwhile, on Nov 12, Ho ( left ) told portal Free Malaysia Today that indeed a complaint had been filed by a former member in 2010 against another member.

“We conducted a mediation process between the two parties and this was agreed to by both of them and the proceding was confidential,” Ho was quoted as saying in FMT.

“The conclusion reached by the panel was that there was a misconduct, and a reprimand was issued to the member concerned”.

Ho then said that “the member concerned was not promoted to Awam’s key position, it was an election by Awam members and votes were taken during the Awam’s last AGM in accordance with our constitution”.