They seem to be fighting a lone battle in raising awareness on women's rights and violence against women but the women's groups in the country are a persevering lot. The lack of support from the government while disappointing has not dampened the groups' spirit to continue with their cause.

One example is the effort undertaken by the All Women's Action Society (Awam) and Women's Development Collective (WDC) who have collaborated on a sexual harassment manual aimed at managers and employees. Funding for the manual comes from the Finland Embassy.

Both Awam and WDC have been working on the issue of sexual harassment for 20 years and have in the process conducted public workshops and dialogues with the government agencies. These efforts resulted in the introduction of the Code of Practice on Sexual Harassment by the Human Resources Ministry in 1999, and this was followed by a wide-ranging sexual harassment survey.

The survey, which was carried out by the two premier women's groups, revealed that a mere four per cent of employers had actually initiated the code at their workplaces. One reason for that is because employers are not legally bound to implement it.

Launching the training manual in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, WDC executive director Maria Chin Abdullah (right) said in spite of their efforts, it was disheartening to see the issue of sexual harassment being ignored.

"However, we still have hope that the government will do the necessary to tackle the issue of sexual harassment seriously. The Human Resources Ministry's recent announcement to continue its implementation plan for the Sexual Harassment Code is seen as a move in that direction.

"But more needs to be done because if one wonders where are we with regards to the sexual harassment campaign, the answer is that we are no where. Twenty years later we are still fighting for this issue to be recognised as a crime and a form of violence against women," Chin said.

Not a 'harmless' issue

She added that the prevailing mindsets that sexual harassment was a 'harmless' issue hampered efforts to convince people to think otherwise.

"Unlike rape and domestic violence where there is physical evidence, sexual harassment can be subtle but just as disturbing, emotionally and mentally. Again, because there is a lack of understanding and commitment on the issue of sexual harassment, the need to put in place an Act to see this form of violence against women as a crime is not happening."

Chin said the women's groups were not looking at lobbying yet again for law reforms but want the government to support the bill on sexual harassment and help put in place an in-house mechanism and a tribunal which would assist victims of sexual harassment to seek redress.

"Many of these victims choose to keep quiet because they have no assurance that upon revealing the incident, their identity would be protected and their job not lost. This sexual harassment manual that we have prepared serves as a guide on steps that can be taken in dealing with sexual harassment cases."

Awam's alliance building manager Betty Yeoh meanwhile said the manual would help clarify the 'greyness' surrounding the issue of sexual harassment.

"The manual comes in two languages - English and Bahasa Malaysia - and also comes with a VCD depicting sexual harassment in the workplace. We also provide a copy of our book 'A Pioneering Step: Sexual Harassment and the Code of Practice in Malaysia'.

"This manual serves as a complete guide for managers and employees on what to do in tackling cases of sexual harassment. We hope employers will support our efforts by adopting this manual at their workplaces.

"We hope this manual can help organisations to better understand sexual harassment and more importantly for managers to develop a sexual harassment policy that can reduce or eliminate all forms of workplace sexual harassment," Yeoh said.