Pemakaian Undang-Undang Tort dalam Tuntutan Saman Gangguan Seksual di Malaysia

Abstract

ABSTRAK
Dalam era modenisasi ini, gangguan seksual bukan lagi suatu perlakuan yang boleh dianggap remeh dan patut dipandang serius oleh kerana ia bersifat sensitif, mengaibkan dan berpotensi untuk menganggu psikologi dan emosi mangsa berkenaan. Tanpa mengira tempat dan masa, seringkali kita ketahui bahawa wanita lebih cenderung dijadikan mangsa gangguan seksual terutamanya di tempat kerja memandangkan golongan lelaki tampak lebih dominan di dalam kebanyakan organisasi. Apabila perlakuan tersebut dilaporkan kepada pihak atasan, tiada sebarang tindakan lanjut yang diambil kerana isu ini dianggap tidak signifikan dan tidak membawa apa-apa pulangan yang lumayan kepada syarikat, malah sekadar menggugat reputasi syarikat tersebut. Hal ini cukup membimbangkan terutamanya apabila menyedari bahawa tiada sebarang undang-undang khusus yang mengawal perbuatan gangguan seksual secara ketat bagi tujuan melindungi hak dan kepentingan mangsa berkenaan. Pendek kata, masih terdapat lompong yang ketara dari sudut perundangan gangguan seksual disebabkan oleh ketiadaan undang-undang khusus yang mengiktiraf pemberian ganti rugi kepada mangsa. Maka, penulisan artikel ini adalah bertujuan untuk menganalisis kesesuaian pengaplikasian undang-undang tort dari aspek remedi yang boleh dipohon oleh mangsa. Penulisan ini turut merujuk kepada undang- undang tort gangguan seksual di negara-negara luar seperti Hong Kong dan Singapura sebagai perbandingan bagi melihat keberkesanannya dalam melindungi mangsa-mangsa gangguan seksual sebagai satu perbandingan.. Turut dicadangkan reformasi undang-undang dalam tuntutan gangguan seksual dari segi aspek penggubalan sebuah akta khusus bagi kesalahan gangguan seksual di Malaysia. Penulisan ini mendapati bahawa undang-undang tort sememangnya sesuai untuk diaplikasikan dalam tuntutan saman gangguan seksual di Malaysia agar hak mangsa terhadap ganti rugi dapat dipenuhi.
Kata kunci: gangguan seksual, ganti rugi, remedi, undang-undang tort
ABSTRACT
In this era of modernization, sexual harassment is no longer an act that can be considered trivial and should be taken seriously as it is sensitive, humiliating and potentially disruptive to the psychology and emotion of its victims. Notwithstanding the place and time, we are constantly being reminded of the fact that women tend to be sexual harassment victims especially in the workplace as men seem to be dominant in most work organisations. When such acts are reported to the authorities, no further action were being taken because this issue is considered as insignificant and profitable to the company and it even merely tarnish the company’s reputation in the eyes of public. This situation is worrying especially when it becomes evident that there are no specific laws that actually govern it in a strict manner for the purpose of protecting the rights and interests of the victims. Briefly, there is still an obvious loophole in sexual harassment laws in Malaysia due to the absence of specific law that recognizes the grant of damages to the victims. Thus, this article aims to analyze the applicability of the law of the torts from the aspect of remedies that may be sought by the victims. This article found that the law of torts should be resorted to in sexual harassment cases in Malaysia in order for the victims to get damages. In this aspect, the authors had also referred to tort law on sexual harassment in other countries like Hong Kong and Singapore to scrutinize its effectiveness towards the protection of harassment victims as a comparison. Law reform in sexual harassment claims was also suggested by way of legislating a specific Act for sexual harassment cases on the basis of the law of torts. This article found that the application of
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the law of torts is very appropriate and suitable in sexual harassment claims in Malaysia as a way to satisfy the rights of victims towards damages.
Keywords: sexual harassment, damages, remedies, law of torts