‘Tighten rules to protect women’

PUTRAJAYA: The Women, Family, and Community Development Ministry has been urged to tighten the rules and standard operating procedures (SOP) to protect women from violence at the workplace.
"This is important so that women will feel safe when they are working alone, especially after office hours," Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said after a special meeting with his staff in the wake of an attack on a female officer of his ministry by a male maintenance worker last Friday.
In the incident, Siti Maisarah Mohd Saad, who was working overtime at 7pm, was set upon by a maintenance worker after she called the maintenance office to switch on the lights which had earlier been switched off as per the SOP.
She is now receiving treatment at the Putrajaya Hospital for facial and head injuries as a result of the brutal attack.
Shabery himself personally agrees that improvements to the SOPs are important to ensure women civil servants could carry out their work without fear, especially after normal working hours.
Meanwhile, Bernama reports Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim as saying that the government will consider amending the SOP or laws concerning the safety of women at the workplace.
Rohani said the assault on the female civil servant should be viewed seriously.