Defaming criminals is a legal principle if the crime is proven, to deter the offender so that the crime is not repeated among the general public. There are criminals who can persist in their misguidance as long as there is a cover for those who do not deserve it. In addition, the same punishment can be a deterrent to him and others, as the lawyer and legal advisor, Dr. Rana Abdulaziz Al Dhahban, says. The penalty for defamation is a legal principle originally established in Sharia, “and let a group of believers witness their torment.” The competent judge determines the type of crime deserving of punishment.
The disciplinary offense is the one in which a regulation is issued in what has no limit, and last January, the Saudi government approved a new amendment to the anti-harassment law, which included adding a paragraph to the law, stating that details of the final judgment against the harasser may be published in the media. A Saudi court defamed the name of a convict in a sexual harassment case, in the first judicial procedure of its kind.
Is the victim of harassment entitled to claim compensation for psychological damage? Lawyer Rana replies: It is necessary to differentiate first between compensation for moral and psychological damage and material compensation in terms of the conditions that must be met and how to compensate for that damage.
The defamation penalty is one of the strongest penalties that can have a positive effect when applied to the offender, but it is considered to have consequences at the same time, not only for the harasser, but also for his future, his family, his work, and the place where he lives, and its negative effects will not be easy.
The judgment for compensation for moral damage is within the discretionary power of the judge according to the case submitted before him.
A reaction to an incident in childhood
Dr. Noura Zayed Al-Maliki saw that harassment is considered an individual behavior resulting from an abnormal psychological structure that is met with rejection and harsh punishment from societies of different cultures, religions and legal legislation. The causes of sexual harassment go back to the early childhood of the harasser, as he may have been subjected to sexual assault, harassment, neglect, and emotional deprivation from the family. From the point of view of psychoanalysis, the personality of the harasser consists of a difficulty in visualizing the instinctive movement, in the sense that he has difficulty in linking perception and emotion through the activity of symbolism, which leads to the act of rape, which is a kind of strong sexual arousal that he cannot postpone, so the harasser resorts to emptying it from During the passage to the violent sexual act, on the other hand, the lack of the subject of initial love may have negatively affected the current relationship with the subject, as the harasser is unable to establish an actual relationship with the current subjects due to the presence of a deficiency in the subject of primary love from the psychological composition, where the relationship of the harasser is with the victim Destruction stems from the destruction of the object of primary love or compensation for its deficiency. It may also be an attempt by the harasser to commit sexual abuse to repair the crack in his narcissism (when he was abused in childhood). The repair is on three levels: narcissism, self-perception, and identity.
Shock may end in suicide!
Dr. Dhaifallah Al-Otaibi, in his opinion, has health, psychological and social effects on the harasser, whether a child or an adult. The situation of harassment may lead to a decrease in his self-esteem due to feelings of fear and anxiety and the accompanying physical symptoms and the growth of his negative thoughts towards himself and others, and he may reach a state of Isolation from society, introversion, and failure to form positive social relationships in all aspects of his life, whether at the level of family, friends, or the work environment, due to his low level of confidence in himself and others. Because of the trauma that the victim of harassment is exposed to, he may go through stages of turmoil, including depression, and the traumatic situation later becomes one of the painful memories that affect the quality of his life, and some may have suicidal thoughts to get rid of the state of harsh feelings, and therefore it is important to prompt therapeutic intervention after the trauma of the situation. Harassment to mitigate the effects resulting from that, and it is one of the psychological treatment techniques, including cognitive-behavioral therapy, to train him in the psychological skills necessary to properly adapt to stressful events and enjoy the necessary psychological resilience, or to intervene with pharmacological treatment according to the nature of the case. The nature of deterrent penalties for the crime of harassment, according to Al-Otaibi, is very important to achieve general deterrence for society as well as private deterrence for the perpetrator of harassment, including the penalty of defamation, which is an appropriate measure to achieve public and private deterrence as well as to mitigate the impact on the harasser and raise his level of self-esteem, despite The effects of harassment in itself may remain for years, especially if the victim is a child who is aware of the situation. The strength of this effect depends on the type and nature of the harassment, as well as the method of treating the psychological trauma at the time of the harassment and after it, as leaving memories of the painful situation for long periods makes them accumulate in the depths of the victim’s psyche, making it difficult to treat and mitigate its impact later, and in order to achieve positive growth after the trauma, the necessary treatment plan should be developed in its various dimensions to reach the required goals. As for the lawyer, Nayef Saeed Al-Mutairi, he said that the system stressed the application of penalties to preserve the privacy, dignity and personal freedom of the individual, which is guaranteed by the provisions of Islamic law. An indication of harassment, directly or indirectly, as long as it indicates an act that offends modesty. Also, one of the types of harassment is sending sexual photos or videos by any means of social media, which is also punishable by law. The law considers the crime of harassment and punishes it according to its gravity and what the judge deems appropriate.
Unsolicited invitations and vulgar insinuations
Dr. Noura Al-Maliki adds that with regard to the types of sexual harassment, it is through touching or any kind of unwelcome physical approach to any part of the body, clothes, face, or hair, as well as through hints, sexual comments, or suggestive jokes, and implicitly requesting sex. or public, displaying sexual material such as photos and videos, unsolicited invitations to go out on dates, inappropriate staring at certain parts of a person's body, online harassment and sending inappropriate videos via social media or online chatting sites and sexually offensive communications, such as phone calls , letters, faxes and e-mails, being naked in front of a person without his desire such as showing intimate parts or masturbating in front of him, threatening rape or psychological intimidation with sexual assault. Both children and adults of all ages and genders may be subjected to harassment, whether male or female, and this may be in the school environment, the work environment, or even in public places such as commercial places, etc.
Muhammad Al-Wasmi (Madinah Al-Munawwarah) @alwasmi_mh
