Sexual Harassment is defined in Section 2 of the Employment Act 1955 as“any unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, whether verbal, non-verbal, visual, gestural or physical, directed at a person which is offensive or humiliating or is a threat to his well-being, arising out of and in the course of his employment”. It is ultimately a power play – the yielding of a superior status or position over another, such exertion being sexual in nature.
By accounts, articles, studies and reported surveys, there is no disagreement that firstly, there is a prevalence of sexual harassment (36% of Malaysian women have been victims of sexual harassment*, 31% of Lawyers in KL & Selangor have experienced some form of sexual harassment**) and secondly, that such incidents largely go unreported. However, in recent times, with the advent of technology, it is unsurprising that incidents of sexual harassment has extended into the domain of social media. This has caused widespread outrage at the problem that has previously gone largely unreported and swept under the carpet.
Last year, the Malaysian Bar was rocked by the news of an incident which amounted to sexual harassment at the Criminal Law Annual Party (Clap) 2019. The news made its round on social media and the Malaysian Bar was under intense scrutiny by the press. The then President of the Bar, Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor stated unequivocally that “the Bar will never condone any form of sexual harassment involving anyone”.
Recently, echoing that sentiment, the current President of the Bar stated in a Press Statement dated 16 June 2020 that “The Malaysian Bar stands with all affected parties and will continue to pursue the facilitation of a safe and healthy environment that is free from unwanted harassment and intimidation of a sexual nature, for all our Members.”.
The Johore Bar Committee in full support of the above sentiment is therefore proud to welcome you to this site which was created for our Campaign Against Sexual Harassment.
Here, you will be able to keep abreast of the events that will be held under this campaign and be informed of the different avenues for redress available to you. Our resources page will arm you with information necessary to navigate your way in this issue.
Most importantly, if you stand with us against sexual harassment of any kind, we urge you to Sign the Pledge and work towards eliminating all forms of sexual harassment at the workplace by adopting a Workplace Policy against Sexual Harassment.
*YouGov Omnibus Research June 2019
**AWL Baseline Study on the Working Conditions of Lawyers in KL & Selangor 2014