A STUDENTS group and several students unions want Putrajaya to implement a sexual harassment prevent prevention code in campuses nationwide which it said was a growing problem.

The Malaysian New Student Movement Alliance (Nesa) along with several associate students unions have submitted a memo to the higher education ministry on the matter.

The students union asked that all tertiary institutions and colleges that already have a similar code must review and strengthen its implementation.

The unions are also calling for student representatives to be allowed to participate in the formulation of the code.

TAR college representative Wong Yan Chi said on campus sexual harassment is taking place in private and public higher education institutions.

“The cases that have been reported are merely the tip of the iceberg,” Wong told The Malaysian Insight.

“This is because the schools are not dealing with the complaints, instead they choose to protect their reputation by not solving the case.”

Wong spoke of an instance where a student in University Malaya reported being harassed by a professor to the university’s integrity unit but was merely given an assurance that the matter would be dealt with.

“After more than a year, she still doesn’t know the status of the complaint and she has a right to know. Universities are not actively looking into cases filed by students.”

There are also instances where the experience is so traumatic that the victims suffer psychologically and are unable to speak up for fear of repercussions.

“Most time, when victims are harassed physically or sexually, they won’t know how to deal with it in that moment,” he said.

The memorandum, Wong said, will hopefully help promote a code of conduct in all institutions.

“This is an important measure. The perpetrators must know that their actions will have consequences. At the same time, universities must implement it and allow student participation in the investigations.”

University Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany) chairman Liau Pin Chun said the group helped a student report a harassment case to the police because the victim didn’t want to come forward.

“The victim was first harassed in 2019. He didn’t come forward at the time because Covid-19 meant that the university switched to online learning.”

“When he returned to school at the end of last year, his nightmare started again.

“He first lodged a complaint to the school but they acted too slowly and the perpetrator had graduated.”

The memorandum also comes in the wake of several sexual harassment cases at the TAR college campus in Penang.

The cases are now under investigation.

On July 20, the Dewan Rakyat passed the sexual harassment bill through a voice vote.

The tabling of the sexual harassment bill had been postponed several times over the last two years. It was tabled for the first reading in December.

The frequent postponements of the bill had led several parties, most notably women’s rights groups, to call for the government to table the bill as soon as possible. – August 19, 2022.