THE Women’s Centre for Change Penang (WCC) greatly applauds the recent letters by victims of sexual harassment who expressed their frustration that sexual harassment incidents are not being taken seriously.

The range of complainants – from a university student being sexually humiliated publicly; a professional being sexually harassed in her workplace; and women being subjected to sexist jokes at public functions – are indicative of how rampant sexual harassment actually is in our society.

Unfortunately, sexual harassment victims have an uphill battle reporting such incidents to the police or relevant bodies. The fact remains that there is currently no sexual harassment law in Malaysia.

In 2000, when four brave female employees of a local hotel decided to lodge police reports against their general manager for sexual harassment, they were summarily dismissed.

It took a seven-year battle in the Industrial Court before they were awarded damages for wrongful dismissal.

Although the general manager in question was charged separately for outrage of modesty, he left the country in the midst of the criminal proceedings, leaving the case effectively unresolved.

This is a key example of the reality faced even when women are brave enough to come out and file sexual harassment complaints.

There is simply no satisfactory redress mechanism for victims. Not only are many productive hours lost, but the emotional and psychological trauma suffered by the victim and her family is immeasurable.

Since 2001, the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG), of which WCC is a member, has been lobbying for a sexual harassment law by submitting a comprehensive Sexual Harassment Bill to the Government (www.wccpenang.org for details).

This Bill provides a clear definition of sexual harassment, comprehensive coverage for all levels of persons in different workplace situations and an independent dispute resolution mechanism.

Instead, in 2005, the Human Resources Ministry announced that the Government was considering amendments to the employment laws to combat sexual harassment.

JAG has highlighted the limitations of such piecemeal amendments that may not cover different categories of workers and different scenarios of sexual harassment.

Women deserve better legal protection against sexual harassment when conducting their daily lives, be it at universities or at the workplace.

JAG urges the Government to take concrete action towards enacting specific sexual harassment legislation to provide a safer working environment for every one.

LOH CHENG KOOI,
Women’s Centre for Change Penang,
On behalf of Joint Action Group for Gender Equality.

Source: The Star – January 23, 2008