Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Hannah Yeoh speaks during a press conference at Q Sentral Kuala Lumpur January 17, 2019. — Picture by Firdaus Latif

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — A sexual impact study commissioned by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry is scheduled to end next month, after which the ministry will begin drafting a Bill specifically on sexual harassment.

Deputy Minister Hannah Yeoh told reporters today that the ministry aims to formulate a law that effectively safeguards victims as the current provisions for sexual harassment under the Penal Code were inadequate.

“The law in the Penal Code is not ‘friendly’, because you have to prove beyond reasonable doubt.

“So, from our ministry’s point of view, the urgency is there for the sexual harassment Bill, and that becomes our priority. Once we conclude the sexual impact study, which will be somewhere between the end of January and early February, we will start to draft a Bill that is suitable for Malaysia’s context.

“Once the impact study and draft Bill is done, then the engagement session with stakeholders will begin,” Yeoh told reporters after launching HelloHERA, an all-female co-working space in Q Sentral here.

Yeoh said the study had to be done as there were not many reports of sexual harassment to help the ministry quantify the cases, before drafting the Bill.

The study is currently being carried out by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI).

There are government guidelines for internal inquiries to deal with complaints at workplaces but currently no law explicitly deals with sexual harassment.

Past complaints have been dealt with through provisions for “sexual-related crimes” under the Penal Code.

In August last year, Yeoh said the proposed legislation aims to complement existing criminal laws related to sexual harassment by plugging loopholes that will criminalise parties that fail to act on such complaints.