LETTER | When the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry released data showing a rise in men reporting sexual harassment, many may have paused at the statistic and moved on.

I hope we don’t. Because behind that number is something that deserves far more than a moment’s attention - it deserves a fundamental shift in how we, as a society, receive men who are hurting.

Sexual harassment does not discriminate by gender. And yet, our responses often do.

Between 2022 and 2024, the Statistics Department recorded 128 male victims of sexual assault cases who came forward to lodge reports, accounting for more than 16 percent of the 794 reported victims during that period.

That figure is not small. But it likely represents only a fraction of what is actually happening, because the barrier to disclosure for men is not merely legal or procedural. It is cultural. It is emotional. It is the weight of being told, in a thousand unspoken ways, that men do not get to be vulnerable.

We have built a society that rewards men for stoicism and penalises them for softness. When a man has been violated and chooses to speak, he often faces a second wound: disbelief, dismissal, or ridicule.

This is the silence we must break. Not just by creating channels for reporting, but by becoming the kind of community that makes it safe to speak at all.

The first response to any victim who comes forward, male or female, should always be empathy.

Time for culture to catch up

Malaysia’s legal framework does not limit protection to women. The Anti-Sexual Harassment Act 2022 (Asha 2022) defines sexual harassment broadly and extends its protections regardless of gender, a deliberate and important legislative choice.

The Act established the Tribunal for Anti-Sexual Harassment as an accessible, lower-cost avenue for victims seeking redress outside of civil court proceedings.

In the workplace, the Employment Act 1955 - as amended by Act A1651 in 2022 - now explicitly requires employers to investigate sexual harassment complaints and prohibits victimisation of those who come forward.

Failure to do so exposes employers to liability. These are not soft guidelines. They are enforceable obligations.

Where criminal conduct is involved, the Penal Code provides recourse under sections covering outrage of modesty (Section 354) and sexual assault (Section 354A), both of which apply irrespective of the victim’s gender.

The law does not carve out men as unworthy of protection. Our social attitudes must stop doing so.

Channels available

For those who wish to seek help or report, existing avenues are open to all genders:

1. Tribunal for Anti-Sexual Harassment

Established under Asha 2022, the tribunal offers a structured but more accessible alternative to civil litigation. Claims may be filed directly with the tribunal, making legal recourse less daunting for those who may not have the resources for prolonged court proceedings.

2. Talian Kasih

A 24-hour government helpline providing immediate emotional support and guidance on next steps. Sometimes the first thing a person needs is simply to be heard.

3. Workplace harassment: Human resources and beyond

Under the Employment Act 1955, employers carry a legal duty to investigate harassment complaints. If internal mechanisms are used to suppress rather than address the matter, victims may escalate to the tribunal under Asha 2022. Suppression is not a neutral act. It is a failure of duty.

Laws and tribunals can only do so much. What carries a victim through is the human around them: the friend who believes them, the colleague who does not look away, the community that refuses to make someone else’s pain into a punchline.

To every man who has experienced this and has not yet found the courage or the safety to speak: you are not alone, and what happened to you matters.

We are only as safe as our willingness to protect the most overlooked among us. Protecting men who have been harmed is not a departure from gender justice. It is an expression of it.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.