KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 — The Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) has called for the drafting of a Gender Equality Act to deal with discrimination and a Sexual Harassment Act to protect women from harassment based on their outfit.

The group said resources should go towards creating laws that enrich women’s lives instead of imposing dress codes that restrict women’s freedom of expression.

"WAO stands by the right of every woman to choose how she dresses. Rather than policing women’s clothing through guidelines that restrict women’s rights and place the burden on them to conform, the government should introduce laws to stop employers from discriminating women based on their dressing and gender.

"It is not the term ‘Shariah-compliant’ that alarms us, as suggested by the honourable minister, but rather, the notion of a ‘dress code’ or ‘guideline’ for women — even a purportedly non-binding one — that is alarming,” the group said in a statement, today.

Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Mujahid Yusof Rawa, who is in charge of Islamic affairs, had introduced a Shariah-compliant dress code meant to protect Muslim women who don headscarves from workplace discrimination.

The group said the policy could have the unintended consequence of ostracizing Muslim women who choose to not comply to the dress code, which in turn would subject them to social pressure, harassment, and discrimination.

"WAO has consistently spoken out against any attempts to restrict women’s freedom of expression through impositions on their clothing, including against an international hotel’s policy prohibiting frontline staff from donning a hijab or headscarf.

"As we have previously pointed out, such a policy discriminates against Muslim women who choose to wear headscarves, as it restricts their freedom of expression and reduces their employment opportunities, while policies that make wearing a headscarf compulsory are similarly discriminatory,” the group said.

WAO said the solution to the issue would be to hold employers accountable through anti-discrimination standards.

The group said the former ruling government had in January proposed amendments to the Employment Act, to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender and religion.

"The government should follow through on these amendments,” the group said.