PARLIAMENT | The Dewan Rakyat has passed with a voice vote the long-awaited anti-sexual harassment bill.
The bill moots the setting up of a tribunal to handle sexual harassment complaints, which will be headed by members of the judicial and legal services.
The bill defines sexual harassment as any unwanted act of sexual nature, in whatever form, be it verbal or non-verbal, visual, a signal, or physical which is targetted to an individual that reasonably causes offence, insults, or threatens their wellbeing.
The tribunal will be empowered to order harassers to issue an apology to their victims, and may even prescribe compensation or damages of up to RM250,000.
Sexual harassers who refuse to comply can be subject to fines and even jail time.
The bill was passed with amendments that would allow legal representation in cases that are legally complex, and on the condition that both sides are allowed to hire a lawyer.
Avenue to justice
Women, Family, and Community Development Minister Rina Mohd Harun (above) lauded MPs for supporting the bill, saying that it would give an avenue to justice for victims.
However, there are issues with the law in its present form that remain unaddressed.
For example, Azalina Othman Said (BN-Pengerang) objected to the appointment of the Women, Families and Community Development secretary-general as the Special Anti-Sexual Harassment administrator.
The administrator is empowered to set guidelines and administer efforts to prevent and raise awareness of sexual harassment.
Azalina argued that the proposed appointment risked having a single individual acting as a "moral enforcer" against sexual harassment and this could lead to legal challenges under administrative laws.
Her concerns were not addressed by the minister during the wind-up speech at the policy stage.
The matter was also not addressed during committee stage debates to introduce several amendments to the bill.
However, at a press conference later, Rina clarified that the ministry's secretary-general was appointed as administrator as the law would be placed under the ministry's purview.
"The secretary-general does not sit in the tribunal. Their role is to summarise policy, and issue guidelines on prevention and awareness, not on regulations.
"Regulations will be from the minister, while the administrator's role is more on sexual harassment advocacy," she said.
She also maintained that the tribunal members will make a final determination on sexual harassment complaints received, with no input from the administrator who is not a tribunal member.
Meanwhile, the minister will also be empowered to create rules to put the law into effect.
One rule expected to be created is organisational care, to make companies responsible to create environments that minimise the risk of sexual harassment.
Gender segregation
Hannah Yeoh (Pakatan Harapan-Segambut) in debating the bill yesterday, expressed concern that this could lead to gender segregation.
Elaborating on this when contacted, Yeoh said overzealous employers, and owners of cinemas and stadiums may choose to take shortcuts in preventing sexual harassment by separating men and women.
"This is not the spirit of this law," she told Malaysiakini.
Meanwhile, Teo Nie Ching (Harapan-Kulai) also expressed concern about gender representation on the tribunal.
There is a clause that states the tribunal should have at least one woman as a member.
However, Teo said that as men also fall victim to sexual harassment, it should also be codified that at least one man is also on the tribunal.
Rina replied that this can be implemented when outlining procedures for appointment to the tribunal. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.