KAJANG: Inappropriate touching involving a male customer and a salesman in a fitting room at a shopping mall is an example of how men can experience unwanted touching, says Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
The Women, Family and Community Development Minister shared about the incident which was related to her by one of her officers involving a friend, who faced physical harassment.
“One of my officers shared this story of a guy who went shopping and was followed by a male salesperson who touched him inappropriately under the pretext of taking his body measurement.
“This guy did not know the salesperson who had no right to do so. So, the guy shared what happened to him with my officer on how even a potential customer can be a victim.
“This is why we are urging more men to join our Skuad Waja, which predominantly has female members. But this is not anyone’s fault, it is our duty to ensure more men join the Skuad Waja because it is time we consider the voices of men on this issue (sexual harassment),” she said.
Skuad Waja is a volunteer initiative established by the Women's Development Department (JPW) aimed at raising awareness among the community.
Nancy said this during a town hall session today after launching the first Zero Tolerance Against Violence Programme @KPWKM Anti-Sexual Harassment Advocacy in 2024, held at the Dewan Seri Sarjana, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (Uniten).
The programme is part of the ministry’s efforts to intensify awareness of sexual harassment among students throughout the country.
She added that roping in males into the advocacy programmes can not only help more men to come forward but also help them spread information about sexual harassment among their family and friends.
As of August 2024, a total of 442 sexual harassment cases have been reported to the police. In 2022, there were 422, while in 2023 it increased to 460 cases.
The programme was attended by around 1,500 students from Uniten and other nearby public universities.
Among the activities were advocacy talks on sexual harassment by JPW, an introduction to the Sexual Harassment Tribunal, a talk on cyberbullying by Cybersecurity Malaysia and a town hall session with Nancy.
This programme aims to raise awareness and knowledge about sexual harassment, disseminate guidelines and notices on anti-harassment to all segments of society, as well as provide information on the psychosocial support services offered by the ministry, particularly to address sexual harassment.
Also present at the event were Uniten vice-chancellor Prof Dr Khairul Salleh Mohamed Sahari, JPW director-general Hanani Sapit, as well as senior officials from the ministry.
