Sexual harassment bill to go beyond gender, to include schools, says Azalina

23 Mar 2022 11:00pm

Special advisor on law and human rights to the prime minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said says a law should be fair to all parties and not be one-sided

The discussion on the bill was attended by Emellia Shariff (Young Women Making Change Malaysia), Daniella Zulkilfi (Association of Women Lawyers), Meera Samanther (Association of Women Lawyers), Betty Yeoh (ENGENDER Consultancy), Lilian Kok (All Women's Action Society) from the JAG group as well as Segambut MP, Hannah Yeoh, Kemaman MP Che Alias bin Hamid and Kuantan MP Fuziah binti Salleh.

SHAH ALAM - Special advisor on law and human rights to the prime minister say the anti-sexual harassment bill needs to go beyond gender and needs to include schools and university.

Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the Attorney General Chamber (AGC) who acts as the parliament draftsman needs to look into the bigger perspective as harassment is not only limited to one gender.

“We cannot say this is a women’s rights group, the MPs for the select committee realised that it is beyond gender and after the discussion with AGC with Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG), they too did not classify this as a gender-based issue.

“It cannot be narrowly interpreted as the tribunal should look at different perspectives too,” she told reporters.

She added that matters should also include not just the workplace but schools and universities.

“There’s no point in establishing a law just for the sake of having a law. Let’s make the law effective and it should work to protect (the groups concerned).

She said it is scheduled for the second reading at the Dewan Rakyat in July.

“When you make into law, you want to make it fair for every party. We do not want a one-sided law,” she added.

The anti-sexual harassment bill discussion was attended by Emellia Shariff (Young Women Making Change Malaysia), Daniella Zulkilfi (Association of Women Lawyers), Meera Samanther (Association of Women Lawyers), Betty Yeoh (ENGENDER Consultancy), Lilian Kok (All Women's Action Society), Segambut MP, Hannah Yeoh, Kemaman MP Che Alias Hamid and Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh.

In February, a coalition of women’s groups called for an urgent review of the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill 2021. They had said this legislation has been 30 years in the making and women’s groups have engaged extensively with the government including in the drafting of the bill.

The first reading of the Bill was held on Dec 15 last year.

The Bill has four main objectives - to provide for a right of redress for any person who has been sexually harassed, to establish a Tribunal for Anti-Sexual Harassment, to promote awareness of sexual harassment, to provide for relevant matters.