Survey Found Majority of Malaysian Women Faced Sexual Harassment at Work

The Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) recently conducted a survey and found that the majority of Malaysian women have experienced some form of sexual harassment at the workplace.

According to the survey, 62% of 1,010 women said they had experienced sexual harassment at the workplace and 56% experienced workplace discrimination.

Workplace discrimination includes:

• receiving comments or questions about their marital status or plans to start a family,
• being ignored for promotions and ordered to do tasks that are not asked of male co-workers, such as making coffee and preparing snacks.

According to WAO, the survey highlights the need for policy change, which includes passing amendments to the Employment Act 1955.

The survey, titled ”Voices of Malaysian Women on Discrimination & Harassment in the Workplace” was carried out in collaboration with research firm Vase.ai. The poll involved 1,010 Malaysian women between the ages of 24 and 55 who have been actively working for the past five years. The participants were questioned about workplace harassment and discrimination, as well as paternity and maternity leave.

The survey highlights the need for policy change concerning sexual harassment.

Demand for a Sexual Harassment Act

Natasha Dandavati, WAO’s head of campaigns, stated sexual harassment was included in the Employment Act 1955 but was only limited to contacts between employers and employees only.

She said under the law, employers had a legal obligation to investigate an employee’s sexual harassment complaint within 30 days of receiving it. Yet, employers have the final say over such enquiries.

Although the Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR) had recommended further protection against sexual harassment in the Employment Act, including the demand for employers to have a sexual harassment policy, she said: “this should not be an alternative to passing an independent Sexual Harassment Act”.

Dandavati said this Act was needed to address all forms of sexual harassment, including for individuals in the workplace who were not included such as interns, volunteers and clients.

“The Act must also be comprehensive in the way it defines sexual harassment, including all forms of conduct across various mediums and platforms, from text to Whatsapp to social media to videoconferencing technologies,” she said, adding that the new law must also set a tribunal for victims to bring sexual harassment complaints in an inexpensive, fast and straightforward way.

 

Gender-based discrimination

Dandavati also stated that female employees and job seekers alike faced gender-based discrimination.

She added that legally, there was no safeguard against such discrimination at the moment. But, there have been proposals to include protection against discrimination based on gender, race and religion, but only for workers.

“Not including job seekers in the scope would mean they may continue to face discrimination and may even be barred from employment altogether.”

The survey discovered that 47% of women were questioned about their marital status during a job interview, while one in every five women was asked on their ability to perform specific tasks as a woman.

The Employment Act covers sexual harassment but only limited to contacts between employers and employees only

Paternity and maternity leave

Other than harassment and discrimination, the survey also investigated the paternity and maternity leave issue in Malaysia.

The survey found that 29% women said their husbands got one to two weeks of paternity leave, 39% said they got less than a week while 16% said their husbands did not receive any paternity leave.

A sum of 55% of women recognised that paternity leave was inadequate, and 63% of them said the husbands’ lack of paternity leave negatively affected their mental health.

Fathers who work in the private sector are not given any paternity leave, though the MOHR had previously proposed three days of paid paternity leave.

When it comes to maternity leave, almost a quarter of Malaysian women surveyed believed that their paid maternity leave was insufficient. Right now, the public sector provides 90 days of paid leave for new mothers while those in the private sector get 60 days.

“Extending this (maternity leave) to 98 days will bring Malaysia in line with the International Labour Organisation’s minimum standard of 14 weeks and will ensure better health outcomes while keeping women in the workforce,” said Dandavati, adding that the extension would also help eliminate some of the stigmas over pregnancy and maternity leave that still affected female employees.

On the issue of stigma, she said the survey found that 20% of women with children reported receiving comments or questions on their ability to perform specific tasks while pregnant.

Meanwhile, 23% of women who returned to work after having a child said they received negative remarks or questions about leaving work on time to get home to their child, and 31% said they were ignored for projects or opportunities after returning to work from maternity leave.

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Source: Free Malaysia Today

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