Govt tribunal orders sexual harasser to pay victim RM60k

The government’s Anti-Sexual Harassment Tribunal (Tags) has ordered a man who committed “visual harassment” against a complainant in Kuala Lumpur to pay RM60,000 and apologise to the victim.

The case is one of three which Tags had deliberated involving sexual harassment involving personnel in the private sector, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Nancy Shukri said.

All three involved female complainants and male respondents, she said during the ministry’s anti-sexual harassment outreach event in Miri yesterday, Utusan Borneo reported.

The second case reported in Negeri Sembilan involved physical harassment, and the respondent was ordered to apologise to the complainant.

The same tribunal rejected a third case involving a complaint of verbal harassment in Kuala Lumpur.

“We don’t accept all complaints, we go by facts of the case,” Nancy (above) said.

Since its launch in March, the tribunal has resolved 18 cases, she said.

Seeking compensation

Tags was set up under the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act 2022 (Act 840), which was gazetted in October 2022.

Under the law, respondents who fail to comply with an award made by the tribunal within 30 days can be fined two times the total amount of compensation granted, or jailed for up to two years or both.

Complainants can lodge a complaint with Tags through the ministry’s counter at Putrajaya or by calling Talian Kasih at 15999.

Sexual harassment is a crime and victims can opt to report the matter to police, and seek justice through the criminal system.

However, research has found that many sexual crimes involve perpetrators who are known or have close relationships with the victims, which deters victims from reporting the case to police.

Nancy said in some cases, victims want to seek compensation instead of seeing the perpetrator face criminal justice, so they may opt for Tags instead.

“It is up to the complainant,” she said.

Male complainants don’t escalate case to Tags

She added that Tags has yet to receive a case involving a male complainant but there have been men who have reported being victims of sexual harassment at the ministry’s counselor counters.

“Before, (the ministry) received police reports and the numbers were just in the dozens, but once we started this advocacy, we have received hundreds of reports.

“Thirty percent of the cases are by men, but to date, male complainants have not sought to escalate the case to Tags,” she added.

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