Honda Malaysia has apologised after a top executive at the firm posted a joke which made light of rape and AIDS on a professional networking site.
The firm said the post on LinkedIn was "inappropriate and insensitive" and it had commenced an internal investigation on the matter.
"His post does not represent the view of Honda on the matter and it is against Honda's values.
"We do not condone, nor will tolerate such behaviour online or offline," it said in a statement today.
The LinkedIn account is no longer accessible.
Over the weekend, former Honda Malaysia employee Nicholas Gomez had circulated screenshots of the executive's post on Twitter and tagged Honda's official Twitter account.
"Unbelievable. A Datuk-titled C-suited leader at a Japanese auto multinational company in Malaysia can post a joke about rape and AIDS and herpes and no one says a thing?
"Not even his human resources head or chief operations officer. Is this acceptable?" Gomez asked.
In his reply to the former employee, the executive said he was not the author of the joke and it was a "cut and paste of a write-up circulated within many socmed (sic)".
Gomez had also sought an explanation from the executive on LinkedIn and was told the posting was a joke the latter copied from another source.
The executive said he found it "very hilarious and cynical" and was something he felt could be beneficial to share with his LinkedIn network.
"I am sorry if it is too offensive for you to swallow and thank you as well for reminding me of the code of conduct.
"I appreciate your sensitivity and concern," the executive had said.
Gomez's tweet on Saturday also attracted the attention of women's rights NGO, the All Women's Action Society (Awam), which demanded an apology from Honda.
"Nobody should joke about rape. Gender-based violence is not a cause for hilarity.
"When you joke about the term rape, you normalise what is a criminal, harmful act that can cause irreparable damage to not just the person raped but also to society as a whole," Awam said.
Following the apology, Awam said Honda had reached out to the NGO to hold gender sensitivity awareness training for its employees.
"Corporates should maintain zero-tolerance against gender-based violence.
"A Sexual Harassment Act can make this a reality," it added.
Malaysia does not have a Sexual Harassment Act and sexual harassment is covered under the Employment Act 1955.
The Human Resources Ministry encourages employers to adopt the 1999 code of practice against sexual harassment and to put in place an internal mechanism to prevent harassment at the workplace.
However, advocates for a separate law stress that harassment does not only happen in the workplace, and can happen anywhere, virtually or in physical spaces.
Awam said sexual harassment refers to any unwanted or unwelcome conduct that is sexual in nature and may be committed physically, verbally, non-verbally, psychologically and/or visually, which may cause the person being harassed to feel humiliated, offended or threatened.
Physical forms of sexual harassment, including sexual assault, are criminalised under the Penal Code. - Mkini
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