KUALA LUMPUR: Employers must view sexual harassment reports seriously because it is an act that cannot be tolerated, said Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

She said sexual harassment cases must be made known because it is a criminal act that violates the law.

She also suggested that employees be given the exposure to knowledge about individual rights to prevent sexual harassment cases in the workplace.

"Firstly, many victims view sexual harassment as something that is too personal. Secondly, sexual harassment is not easily proven," she told reporters after presenting welfare aid amounting to RM60,000 to 170 recipients including the disabled at Gombak Social Welfare office on Sunday.

"Thirdly, it has become a norm that majority of victims of sexual harassment seem to think that they are being punished and judged. They suffer in silent."

She added employees were also reluctant to report such cases because they were afraid of the risk of being fired.

She was asked to comment on the low number of reported sexual harassment cases despite the introduction of the voluntary Code of Practice on the Prevention and Eradication of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace in 1999.

At the launch of a seminar on "Sexual Harassment in the Workplace" in conjunction with Sexual Harassment Week, which on Sunday, Labour Department director-general Datuk Ismail Abdul Rahim had said the introduction of a sexual harassment statute could lead to a dull and rigid environment in the workplace.

Ismail had also said that the code, which was voluntary adopted by companies was sufficient to curb sexual harassment.

Asked to comment on Muntik Hani, the Indonesian maid who died of alleged abuse in Klang, Shahrizat said proper punishment should be meted out against the alleged abuser as soon as possible.

She expressed gratitude towards the authorities, which had acted fast on the abuse allegations.

She added that the act of brutality and cruelty by a few employers against their foreign maids had given a bad name to the majority of good employers in the country.

Earlier, Shahrizat said the Social Welfare Department had begun handing out aid to recipients including those with disability or illness and those of old age in Peninsular Malaysia on the first day of the month since Sept 1.

She said effective from Jan 1 next year, all recipients nationwide would receive their monetary payments on the first day of every month.

She said the Federal Government spent RM460mil annually towards allocation for 290,000 individuals in need.