She said the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill, which has been approved by the Dewan Rakyat, will be tabled in the Dewan Negara (the Senate) next month.
Should it be approved by the senate, the bill would require royal assent before it becomes law.
“We are in the first process, to pass the bill, then to set up a tribunal with appointments to be requested from the Public Services Department and we are having discussions on these,” she said at a briefing for the media in Kuala Lumpur today.
“However, matters related to the bill can be enforced based on certain provisions….not everything has to be completed before enforcement. We will see which are the provisions we need to enforce first such as advocacy and awareness programmes on sexual harassment for the public,” she said, Bernama reported.
“Formation of the tribunal will perhaps take over a year,” she said.
Rina said complaints on sexual harassment would be heard behind closed doors to protect the privacy and sensitivities of the complainant, and to encourage more victims to lodge complaints against offenders.
She said Malaysia currently lacked a specific law against sexual harassment, aside from laws on criminal intimidation, insult and annoyance.
“But today, many women when asked or interviewed in the studies conducted admitted having been sexually harassed but did not come forward to lodge a report due to being scared, ashamed or having no clear evidence.
“When the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act is approved, we want to see public awareness and education that sexual harassment is not normal nor an accepted culture, and not to be taken lightly or viewed as a small matter.
She said the new law would help to provide a safe environment for the public, not just at the workplace but in public areas as well.
She said an opinion poll showed that 87.5% of respondents stated that they would report sexual harassment to the tribunal.
Hence, Rina said her ministry would be holding a nationwide tour with non-governmental organisations and other related parties to create awareness and explain on sexual harassment.
The ministry’s deputy secretary-general, Chua Choon Hwa, said the tribunal would be empowered to require an apology to be made to the complainant and for the apology to be broadcast if the sexual harassment was committed in public.
The tribunal could also order offenders to pay compensation of up to RM250,000 to be paid to the complainant.
Chua said the tribunal would be an alternative platform for victims of sexual harassment to seek redress.
“Complainants can also make a police report if they want to,” he said, while respondents could also seek High Court action if they felt the orders of the tribunal were improper or unfair.