Before 2012, there was no law on sexual harassment in Malaysia. However, when the Employment Act 1955 was amended in 2012, employers must inquire into sexual harassment complaints, failing which a criminal penalty will be imposed. Unfortunately, the new law did not allow a complainant to claim damages from the harasser or the employer. After more than two decades of campaigns by women's rights groups and NGOs, the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill 2021 (hereinafter 'the ASHB 2021') was finally enacted and passed in July this year. Given the novelty and absence of any academic research, this paper seeks to examine the provisions of the Bill critically to understand its scope, coverage and broader implications for sexual harassment victims. The paper employs a qualitative research methodology, adopting a doctrinal approach and content analysis of the primary source, the ASHB 2021, that would provide a deeper understanding of the legislation. The authors contend that despite being regarded as a victim-centric law, the Bill is half-baked and inadequate to protect sexual harassment victims due to its failure to include significant provisions on the sexual harassment definition, the protection against victimisation and employers' obligations to prevent and address such conduct.
Abarna, S., Sheeba, J. I., Jayasrilakshmi, S., & Devaneyan, S. P. (2022). Identification of cyber harassment and intention of target users on social media platforms. Engineering applications of artificial intelligence, 115, 105283.
Razali, A. N., & Nawang, I. N. (2022). An Overview of The Legal Framework Governing Cyberbullying Among Children In Malaysia. IIUM Law Journal vol 30:51. https://doi.org/10.31436/iiumlj.v30iS1.704.
Ahuja, K. K., & Padhy, P. (2021). The cyber avatar of sexual harassment at the workplace: a media analysis of reports during CoViD-19. Journal of psychosexual health, 3(4), 322-331.
Basu, P., Singha Roy, T., Tiwari, S., & Mehta, S. (2021, September). Cyber Police: Classification of Cyber Sexual Harassment. In EPIA Conference on Artificial Intelligence (pp. 701-714). Springer, Cham.
Brackenridge, C. H. (2013). Myths about sexual abuse in sports. Retrieved from Moms Team website: http://www.momsteam.com/health-safety/myths-about-abuse-in-sports.
Brake, D. L. (2013). Going outside Title IX to keep coach-athlete relationships within bounds. Retrieved from Safe4athletes website: http://safe4athletes.org/component/k2/item/2-going-outside-title-ix-tokeep-coach-athlete-relationships-in-bounds.
Choo, E. Y., and Tham, S. P. (2021). Sexual Harassment in Workplace: A Literature Review, The International Journal of Humanities & Social Studies. 9. 29-34. 10.24940/theijhss/2021/v9/i8/HS2108-023.
Collins, E. G., & Blodgett, T. B. (2010). Sexual Harassment: Some See It, Some Won't. Harvard Business Review, 59(2), 76-95.
Fitzgerald, l., Weitzman, L. M., Gold, Y., & Ormerod, M. (1988). Sex and Denial in Scholarly Garb. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 12:329-340.
Hersch, J. (2015). Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. AZA World of Labour, No 188.
Horn, S. S., and Poteat, P. (2022). Developmental Changes In Young People's Evaluations of Sexual Harassment, Journal of Social Issues. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12516.
Jatmiko, M. I ., Syukron, M., & Mekarsari, Y. (2020). COVID-19, harassment and social media: A study of gender-based violence facilitated by technology during the pandemic. The Journal of Society and Media, 4(2), 319-347. 10.26740/jsm. v4n2.p319-347.
Kirby, S., Demers, G. (2013). Sexual Harassment and Abuse in Sport. In: Roper, E.A. (eds) Gender Relations in Sport. Teaching Gender. Sense Publishers, Rotterdam. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-455-0_8.
McEwen, C., Pullen, A., & Rhodes, C. (2021). Sexual Harassment at Work: The Leadership Problem. Rev. Adm. Empres. Vol 61 (2). Retrieved from
Nadim, M., & Fladmore, A. (2019). Silencing Women? Gender and Online Harassment. Social Science Computer Review, Vol 39, Iss 2. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439319865518.
Parkhill, A. J., Nixon, M., & McEwan, T. E. (2022). A critical analysis of stalking theory and implications for research and practice. Behavioural Sciences & the Law.
Renuat, A., & Kusumaningtyas, R. (2022, May). Self-concept of Victims of Cybersexual Harassment on Instagram. International Conference on Community Empowerment and Engagement (ICCEE 2021) (pp. 25-32). Atlantis Press.
Scarduzio, J. A., & Walker, C. S. (2022). Disruptions to the Workplace Exploring the Policies and Legal Cases of Online Sexual Harassment: Policies and Laws About Online Sexual Harassment. Research Anthology on Combating Cyber-Aggression and Online Negativity (pp. 331-351). IGI Global.
Stevens, F., Nurse, J. R., & Arief, B. (2021). Cyberstalking, cyber harassment, and adult mental health: A systematic review. Cyberpsychology, Behaviour, and Social Networking, 24(6), 367-376.
Tharshini, N. K., Hj Mas'ud, F., & Hassan, Z. (2022). Level of Cybercrime Threat During the Outbreak of Covid-19 Pandemic: A Study in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business & Social Sciences 12(5), 30-51.
U.N. Women. (2012). Facts and Figures. U.N. Women | Asia and the Pacific. Available at: https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en.
Rosli, W. R., Hamin, Z., Abdul Rani, A. R., & Kamaruddin, S. (2021), Non0Criminalisation of Cyberstalking and its Impacts on Justice for Victims: Some Evidence from Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business & Social Sciences 11(6), 1257–1266.
In-Text Citation: (Hamin et al., 2022)
To Cite this Article: Hamin, Z., Hussain, F., Rani, A. R. A., Kamaruddin, S., & Rosli, W. R. W. (2022). Recent Development in Sexual Harassment Law in Malaysia: Whither the Victim’s Protection? International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 12(11), 2915– 2924.
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
