The broad definitions under the Anti-Sexual Harassment bill, which the Dewan Rakyat passed today, mean that how someone dresses could potentially be considered an offence.
Answering a question from a PAS lawmaker, Women, Family, and Community Development Minister Rina Mohd Harun said that wearing provocative attire can be sexual harassment if it meets the definition in the bill.
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.
"If the purpose of wearing provocative or inappropriate clothing is targeted at an individual and meets the definition of the bill, then it is an offence that can be forwarded to the tribunal," she said while wrapping up debates on the bill at the policy stage.
Rina was responding to a query by Abdul Latiff Abdul Rahman (Perikatan Nasional-Kuala Krai) yesterday on whether wearing sexually provocative or inappropriate clothes was a sexual harassment offence.
When contacted, Hannah Yeoh (Pakatan Harapan-Segambut) agreed that there might be genuine cases where someone uses their manner of dress, or undress, to harass someone - such as by flashing their privates or stripping.
However, she also conceded that there is also potential for abuse on the matter.
‘Protecting men’
The clothing argument is often used to blame sexual crimes on victims. This is despite evidence that rapes and harassment occur regardless of how a person is dressed.
In 2019, then PKR senator Mohd Imran Abd Hamid suggested that a sexual harassment law be enacted to protect men from being seduced into committing crimes such as rape.
"I propose a Sexual Harassment Act to protect men from the actions, words and clothing of women, which can cause men to be seduced to the point they can commit acts such as incest, rape, molestation, (watching) pornography and likewise.
"This is important. We (men) need to be protected. The actions, clothing of women can seduce us into breaking the law and causing us to be charged (with a crime).
"I ask that the minister consider this so that the men in this country are safe, and the country is peaceful," he had said.
Imran later retracted his proposal and apologised after widespread backlash.
Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff - who is Rina's deputy minister - had in 2013 suggested a similar law to prevent women from wearing indecent clothing in order to curb sexual crimes.
"This culture of women wearing short pants... it is indecent. Take, for example, the dressing of stewardesses," she had said.
Under the bill passed today, a tribunal headed by members of the judicial and legal services will be set up to handle sexual harassment complaints.
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. - Mkini
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