KUALA LUMPUR: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry will wrap-up its study into the feasibility of a proposed Sexual Harassment Act by end of next January.
Its Deputy Minister Hannah Yeoh said that this came on the heels of a comprehensive three-month study.
“(In regards to the proposed) Enactment of the (proposed) Sexual Harassment Bill, (there is) a three-month comprehensive study to look into the loopholes in the existing laws, not only in the public sector but also the private sector in Peninsula Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
“The study is expected to be finished by January and it would then be presented to members of parliament before the Bill is tabled.
“We realise this is an urgent matter due to various newspaper reports not just (involving cases) in the public sector but also the private sector.
“We have seen cases begin to come out in the media such as the case at the Sungai Buloh hospital where the government has decided to terminate the doctor’s (alleged aggressor) service.
“More victims have comes forward so this is a good development. Men can also be a victim (of sexual harassment),” she said at the Dewan Rakyat this afternoon.
She was speaking during a committee-stage wrapping-up speech on the Supply Bill 2019 for her ministry.
In July, an English daily reported on a Sungai Buloh Hospital specialist who was implicated in several sexual harassment cases.
In regards to the proposed Gender Equality Act, Yeoh said that the ministry would extend engagements not only with academics and non-governmental organisations (NGO) but also state governments like Kelantan.
“In regards to the Gender Equality Act, the ministry wishes to enact it.
“So far we have engaged academics and the NGOs and it will be extended to include state governments like Kelantan and the general public, before the Bill is tabled,” she said.
She said among the issues to be looked into was religious and legal aspects in the civil and syariah legal system such as the issues of marriage and family as well as the issue of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) community, among others.
She assured that the ministry would not table the bill until the matter had been discussed with lawmakers, among others.
