Preserving women’s safety and modesty during flood disaster: Self-help solution based on the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act 2022

After more than 20 years of lobbying and drafting, the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act 2022 (ASHA) was finally enacted and gazetted in October 2022. The noble intent of the Act to address the prevailing problem of sexual harassment in the country. The Act provides remedies to the victim in the form of apology and financial compensation from the perpetrator. However, the practical usability of the legal protection is questionable. The Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat is empowered to take preventive measures and advocates public education. However, the Kementerian does not have enforcement power to bring the perpetrator to justice. The locus standi rests on the victim who must raise his/her own case without legal representation. He/she must secure evidence, witnesses, reports and documents to the Tribunal. This is a difficult, if not impossible, task for an untrained layman. Consequently, the Act may become inoperative, the victim will be left unremedied and the perpetrator not sanctioned.

The aim of this project is to fill the enforcement gap left by ASHA. The objective is to highlight the disabling factors in the Act that forms the hurdles to the road towards ensuring safety to girls and women; then to mobilise civil society organisations (CSOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) (collectively known as “first-responders”) to empower victims of sexual harassment (SH) to enforce their right for legal redress afforded by ASHA.