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PETALING JAYA: A survey by the Women’s Aid Organization (WAO) found that the majority of Malaysian women surveyed have experienced some form of sexual harassment in the workplace.
She said that 62% of 1,010 women surveyed reported experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace. The survey also found that 56% of women have experienced discrimination in the workplace.
This includes receiving comments or questions about their marital status or plans to start a family, being overlooked for promotions, and being asked to perform tasks not asked of their male colleagues, such as making coffee and making soft drinks.
According to WAO, the results support the clamor for a policy change, including the passage of amendments to the Employment Act of 1955 in the next session of Parliament.
The survey “Voices of Malaysian women on discrimination and harassment in the workplace”, which was carried out in collaboration with the research agency Vase.ai, asked 1,010 Malaysian women aged 24 to 55 who have been actively working for the last five years: questions about harassment and discrimination in the workplace, and also about paternity and maternity leave.
Need for a sexual harassment law
Natasha Dandavati, WAO’s campaign manager, said sexual harassment was covered by the Employment Law, but was limited to encounters between employers and employees only.
During an online submission made to discuss the survey findings, he said that under the law, employers were legally required to investigate an employee’s sexual harassment complaint within 30 days of receiving it. However, employers have the utmost discretion about such inquiries.
Although the Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR) had proposed additional protection against sexual harassment in the Employment Act, including a requirement that employers have a sexual harassment policy, it said that “this should not be an alternative to approving of an Independent Sexual Harassment Act “.
Dandavati said this law was necessary to address all forms of sexual harassment, including for people in the workplace who were not covered by it, such as interns, volunteers and clients.
“The law must also be comprehensive in the way it defines sexual harassment, including all forms of conduct on a variety of media and platforms, from text messages to WhatsApp, social media and video conferencing technologies,” he said, adding that the new law should also establish a court for victims to file complaints of sexual harassment in an inexpensive, fast and free manner.
Gender discrimination
Dandavati also said that both female employees and job seekers face discrimination on the basis of gender.
He added that legally there is no protection against such discrimination at this time. However, there have been proposals to include protection against discrimination on the basis of gender, race and religion, but only for employees.
“Failing to include job applicants in the scope would mean that they could continue to face discrimination and could even be excluded from employment entirely.”
The survey found that 47% of women were asked about their marital status during a job interview, while one in five women was asked about their ability to perform certain tasks as a woman.
Paternity and maternity leave
In addition to harassment and discrimination, the survey also looked at the issue of paternity and maternity leave in Malaysia.
It found that 39% of the women said their husbands enjoyed less than a week of paternity leave, 29% said they had one or two weeks, while 16% said their husbands did not receive any paternity leave.
55% of women agreed that paternity leave was insufficient, and 63% of this group said that their husbands’ lack of paternity leave negatively affected their emotional and mental health.
However, fathers working in the private sector are not guaranteed any paternity leave, although the Ministry of Human Rights had previously proposed three days of paid paternity leave for the private sector.
On the issue of maternity leave, almost a quarter of the surveyed Malaysian women felt that their paid maternity leave was insufficient. Currently, the government 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 Labor Organization’s 14-week minimum standard and ensure better health outcomes while keeping women in the workforce,” Dandavati said, adding that the extension would also help remove some of the stigma around pregnancy and maternity leave that still affects female workers.
Digging deeper into this stigma, she said the survey found that 20% of women with children reported receiving comments or questions about their ability to perform certain tasks during pregnancy.
Meanwhile, 23% of women who returned to work after having a child said they received negative comments or questions about leaving work in time to get home with their children, and 31% said they were ignored for projects or opportunities when returning to work after motherhood. get out.
