Sexual Harassment Act: Kasthuri Patto disappointed bill still at AGC level

KUALA LUMPUR: The bill pertaining to the issue of sexual harassment which is expected to be completed in March and tabled at the next Dewan Rakyat session, is deemed very late.

Member of Parliament for Batu Kawan, Kasthuri Patto, said the postponement had taken almost a year as it was supposed to be tabled in March last year.

According to her, the bill has gone through a series of postponements, including due to the political crisis in the country.

"It is very very late.

“According to the plans of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM) during the Pakatan Harapan era, it was supposed to be fully presented in March 2020 but was delayed due to the ‘Sheraton Move’, so we urged it to be tabled in July.

"Because the draft bill was at the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) at that time, it was rescheduled to be tabled at the end of last year, but as usual, the end of the year was a budget debate," she said when interviewed on Astro AWANI today.

Expressing her disappointment, Kasthuri said she was also worried about the amendments to the contents of the draft bill as many efforts and discussions had been made by her before.

"I am disappointed because it is still at the AGC level.

"And I am concerned with the content of the bill, whether what was discussed earlier with all stakeholders was agreed to, or what difference between the original draft and the AGC amendments that have been made," she explained.

Kasthuri said among the stakeholders involved were the Bar Council, Women's Aid Organisation (WAO), WCC, Sisters in Islam, ABIM and several other non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

She claimed that the postponement would cause victims of sexual harassment, whether male or female, to not get the justice they deserve in the country's legal system.

"We hear many cases are closed.

"For example, if a lecturer behaves indecently with a student, with the university's internal investigation, it will be resolved internally.

"Or sexual harassment involving large companies, we rarely hear other acts applied to the company," she said.

Kasthuri stressed that the country needs a good and worthy act instead of a weak act and needing to be amended multiple times.

She also called on KPWKM Minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun to take the initiative to open a discussion space with the opposition before it is tabled in Parliament.

Yesterday, Rina said the bill involving the issue of sexual harassment was now in the final stages of the AGC's scrutiny and expected to be completed by March.