Kuala Lampur, Oct. 8 -- After more than two decades of advocacy by women's rights groups and NGOs, Parliament finally passed the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act 2022 (ASHA) in October 2022 which came into effect in March 2023.

Under ASHA, sexual harassment is any unwanted sexual behaviour, be it verbal, non-verbal, visual, gestural, or physical, that is reasonably offensive or humiliating or threatens an individual's well-being.

Unlike the Employment Act 1955, which solely covers workplace sexual harassment, ASHA provides a remedy for anyone who has been a victim of sexual harassment in any domain of life.

Legal scholars are critical of ASHA, however, as it does not explicitly specify sexual harassment as a criminal offence, and offenders d...