AS a female employee, I find it very disheartening and disturbing why a leading bank in the country is not showing any sympathy or kindness at all to a sexual harassment victim.
The employee was terminated two months after she lodged a police report over alleged sexual harassment by her superior.
The 52-year-old bank officer was charged with two counts of sexual harassment at the Ipoh magistrate’s court last year for the incidents allegedly occurring three years ago.
He pleaded not guilty to charges of sending obscene WhatsApp messages to the 38-year-old woman on May 20, 2021, and August 18, 2021, with the messages allegedly sent from a location in Ipoh, as reported.
What is further distressing is that despite the charges against him, the person concerned is believed to be still gainfully employed at the bank.
There are many global examples on the right course of action that this Malaysia’s premier bank could have adopted from the moment it learned of the scandal.
The bank's conduct over the incident is a repudiation of the number one concern for working Malaysian women: Security.
A 2022 study rated sexual harassment as the biggest workplace threat for 35% of female employees in the country — more than the 29% for global working women.
The survey by Ipsos found that 52% of Malaysian women considered it unacceptable to send unrequested comments or compliments on someone’s physical appearance — twice as high as the average of other countries.
Despite numerous requests and pickets by the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) for the bank to reinstate the terminated employee, the bank remains remorseless.
It is sad that after enduring such mental and emotional torture for so many years, the victim is still without a job and having to deal with mounting uncertainty.
This incident sends a very negative message to female employees in the country - remain silent and endure the harassment rather than come forward and report it.
Is this the kind of 'reward' a woman gets for having the strength and courage to report sexual harassment against her? To maintain the perpetrator in gainful employment and terminate the innocent victim?
This is a clear example of injustice and after suffering for all those years, the victim who did the right thing by lodging a report is still in pain.
I urge the relevant authorities and those in power to please step forward and assist the victim and not further punish her.
A. Karuna is the Assistant General Secretary of the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE)
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Vibes
