KUALA LUMPUR: Members of the Youth Parliament today want the government to enact the Sexual Harassment Act quickly to address and protect victims of sexual harassment.
Penang representative Ahmad Zaki Shah Headan said Malaysia currently did not have any specific act to curb the increasing cases of sexual harassment in the community.
Citing the India and the Philippines as examples of countries that had specific acts on the crime, Ahmad Zaki said the enactment of the act would become a guideline to the authorities for the purpose of defending the victim and getting redress.
“If we have an act, we can provide a guideline in preventing the problem from occurring, including definitions and procedures for processing complaints relating to sexual harassment,” he said when debating on the motion that the government enacts the Sexual Harassment Act in the country at the Youth Parliament sitting here today.
The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry recently proposed to enact the Sexual Harassment Act to protect victims of sexual harassment, particularly among women.
Ahmad Zaki also suggested that a comprehensive complaint procedure be created as most victims did not know what to do apart from being embarrassed and scare to lodge a report to the authorities.
Sharing similar views was Kedah representative Muhammad Aiman Ahmad Nahzeri who proposed that the government set up the Sexual Harassment Tribunal to handle cases relating to the problem.
“The Tribunal not only handles cases of sexual harassment, but also serves to advise, propose and report on effectiveness from time to time to the government,” he said.
The motion was later approved unanimously by the Youth Parliament which sat for two days from yesterday.