THE Joint Action Group for Gender Equality, ENGENDER Consultancy and Young Women Making Change have collectively called for an urgent review of the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill 2021.
Since the 1990s women’s groups have engaged extensively with the Government including in the drafting of the Bill. The first reading of the Bill was held on Dec 15, 2021 and it is tabled for a second reading in the parliamentary meeting today (Feb 28).
“While we recognise and appreciate the Government’s efforts to honour its commitment of passing specific legislation on sexual harassment, unfortunately, there remain significant gaps in the bill, especially in terms of proper redress and prevention mechanisms to protect victims of sexual harassment,” they said.
“Today, we present a memorandum with recommendations to amend the bill, including through the addition of new sections, to the Government and the public.
“These amendments will ensure that we enact legislation which is comprehensive and prioritises the rights and wellbeing of victims of sexual harassment.”
Towards a comprehensive victim-centric bill
On what a comprehensive victim-centric Bill entails, the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) highlighted that organisational duties to prevent and address sexual harassment must be included.
“The proposed Tribunal where survivors can report sexual harassment is welcomed. However, sexual harassment does not occur solely between two individuals. It happens within a setting or environment – including at work, universities, schools, public transport, and so on,” they pointed out.
“Therefore, organisational duty is a fundamental component which must be included and in addition to the organisational duties in the Bill, steps need to be taken by organisations to prevent sexual harassment from occurring in the first place.”
According to the NGOs, without mandated organisational duties survivors must “wait for the harassment to occur and then bear the responsibility of reporting it on their own”.
With organisational duties spelt out, survivors would have the option of addressing harassment at the organisation level, which may be preferable.
“Existing laws do not adequately address this. The Employment Act provisions are weak and limited, and there are no laws covering universities, schools, public transport, malls, and other areas where sexual harassment occurs.
“The Bill should specify steps which employers, universities, public transport operators, and other organisation administrators must take to prevent and address sexual harassment in their respective organisations,” they added.
“These could include prohibiting sexual harassment, mandating basic training on sexual harassment, and adopting a complaints mechanism to respond to complaints.
“The size of an organisation can be considered to ensure measures required are not beyond the organisation’s capabilities.”
The NGOs also highlighted the importance of extending the definition of sexual harassment in the Bill to recognise instances where the harassment is not directed at a particular individual but creates an offensive, hostile or intimidating environment.
“For example, situations where a supervisor narrates sexual jokes and innuendos to subordinates can cause an offensive, hostile, or intimidating environment which affects individuals’ ability to function at work,” they noted.
Additionally, provisions on victimisation must also be included whereby victimisation is a common retaliatory response to survivors of sexual harassment.
“It is detrimental as it can lead to underreporting and also re-traumatise survivors. For example, a professor may threaten to mark down a student for making a sexual harassment complaint or supporting another student’s claim.
“The Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill should have a clause protecting complainants and to ensure they feel safe in reporting their experiences,” said the NGOs.
Concerns were not new
According to the NGOs, the concerns that they have highlighted were not new and many quarters have repeatedly advocated for these provisions to be included in the drafting of the Bill in the past.
We call for the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill 2021 to be urgently reviewed by the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Women and Children Affairs and Social Development as well as all members of Parliament,” they said.
“It is imperative that our lawmakers commit to passing a comprehensive, victim-centric legislation against sexual harassment. Otherwise, loopholes in protection and redress for victims would defeat the purpose of such legislation.” – Feb 28, 2022
