Speak up, five types of harassment you can report right now

SHAH ALAM – Have you ever been in a situation where you think it is borderline sexual harassment, but you are just not sure?

Federal police Sexual, Women and Child Investigation Division (D11) Child Interview Centre Head of Unit Deputy Superintendent Noridah Md Ayob said that sexual harassment is an intolerable act committed by the perpetrator, involving emotions, physical, mental, and dignity when such incidents occur.

She said that there are five types of harassment which are verbal harassment, non-verbal harassment, visual harassment, symbolic harassment, and physical harassment.

“Verbal harassment occurs through words if the recipient or victim feels uncomfortable with comments made verbally by the perpetrator meanwhile non-verbal harassment involves unpleasant looks or depictions from any party.

“Non-verbal harassment can be observed through behavior that makes the victim feel uncomfortable, either in terms of actions or inappropriate gestures which includes attitudes or behaviours that display sexual desire such as staring, licking one’s lips while staring and so on.

“Visual harassment is through indecent depictions created by someone or engaging in flashing (exposing one's body to others) and physical harassment involves uncomfortable actions such as attempting to touch hands or hair,” she said during an awareness talk at the UEM Edgenta Integrity Day 2024 recently.

Noridah added that sexual harassment could occur between men, women, men to women, and women to men and it can happen anywhere, be it at the workplace, at home, in public places, on the roadside, at schools, hospitals, or anywhere, especially in secluded places.

“Sometimes, the victim will not lodge a report as they are embarrassed, feel guilty, protecting their loved ones or the perpetrator is someone prominent. However, the harassment must be reported so that the authorities can take the next course of action,” she said.

The victim should remember details of the harassment, such as the time, day, place, clothing, and actions taken, which would be crucial for the next steps, namely making a police report.

The report, she said, can be lodged at any police station, one-stop crisis centre, through phone or letter.

Once a report is lodged, the police will record a statement from the victim before being referred for medical check-ups. The investigation team will then collect statements, take photographs if necessary and interrogate suspects which will determine if arrest was needed.

The investigation paper would then be submitted to the legal team.

Noridah urged that men who became victims of sexual harassment should also lodge a report immediately to the responsible authorities to ensure that investigations would be made, which would subsequently lead to action.

Meanwhile, she also said that employers also play a crucial role if sexual harassment occurs in the workplace, highlighting that there were codes of practice for both government and private sectors that focused on eradicating sexual harassment in the workplace.

Aside from that, Malaysia also has other Acts in place such as the Penal Code, Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, Sexual Offences Against Children Act, Anti-Sexual Harassment Act 2022 and the latest one – the Anti-Stalking Act 2023 to cater to such issues when reported.