Sexual harassment is pervasive in the workplace and it affects men and women of all ages. It is the responsibility of everyone to do the right thing when it comes to professional conduct in the workplace. Not just because we have to by law, but because everybody has the right to be treated fairly and with respect. That is the spirit of implementing a sexual harassment policy in the organisation.

A recent survey conducted on 1,002 Malaysians concluded that 36% of women and 17% of men have experienced sexual harassment. From this, only 53% of victims reported or told someone about their harassment. The main worry not reporting sexual harassment is humiliation (54%), feeling alone and helpless (38%) and fear of consequences (26%).

Companies need to consider the potential ramifications that can come from an employee sexually harassing another employee. Not only does this lead to a toxic culture and injury to reputation of the organisation, it can also result in loss of talents in the organisation and cause serious trauma to victims that could lead to mental health issues. It is important for organisations to have a robust sexual harassment policy including strong reporting mechanisms and prevention policy. On the other hand, employees need to know how to handle a situation if they are being harassed or seeing someone being harassed and be clear on the organisation’s policy, feel safe and confident in using the organisation’s reporting mechanism.

This training session will educate employees on what is considered sexual harassment and teaches what kind of behavior is appropriate and expected in the workplace. The course will share the different legislations that apply to sexual harassment and help participants understand the topic on a wider context. It can be targeted and customised for managerial and supervisorial and non-executive level employees respectively.