Obligation to Report Street Harassers?

"Selangor Community Awareness Association member and lawyer Honey Tan said sexual harassment on public transportation in Malaysia is common and she said many women don’t report it.

“‘Even if you don’t think the police can solve the case, the statistics are important to justify the police’s request for more manpower [sic]. Making a police report is not just your right, but your obligation ,’ she said.” (via AsiaOne Motoring)

There are tons of reasons why victims/survivors don’t report incidents of street harassment & assault, like not having enough time/energy, fear of being blamed for the harassment/assault, fear of wasting their time because their complaint won’t be taken seriously, fear of retaliation from the harasser, an inability to identify the harasser, etc. So saying it’s their obligation to report it may be a bit naive.

On the other hand, I do think that the problem of gender-based public harassment and assault by strangers won’t be taken seriously by law and policy makers unless the numbers (reports) show there’s a problem. The numbers won’t show there’s a problem if the crimes are vastly under reported (which they are).

Of course currently websites like the Holla Backs and others allow women to share their street harassment stories, but these aren’t "reports" and they aren’t being counted or considered by the police or policy makers when they make decisions around issues like public transportation, community safety, and gender socialization education.

Right now it seems like conducting surveys are the best way to show the real harassment numbers, but it may be better to have more accurate reports too. If suddenly a city was having women report street harassers daily, I think they’d take the problem more seriously than they would over the results of a survey (no matter how compelling). Constant reporting would be a constant reminder.

So a thought: what about the creation of a second type of complaint form someone could fill out about the harassment (anonymously and/or with the ability to do it online) if they don’t necessarily want to press charges but just want to help show the real numbers of harassment incidents? Does anyone know if such a form/system exists in any city or country?

Would there be too much room for false reporting? (Though what would the incentive be for false reporting if its purpose is to function as a way to gather data, not to prosecute the harasser?)

Anyway, I’m typing out loud on this and wanted to hear from you all on this issue. Thanks!

(Partially cross-posted at Stop Street Harassment Blog)