Congress of Unions of Employees in Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) finance secretary Razali Singah said the number of cases involving violence against women in the workplace was alarming and could worsen if no initiatives are taken to address them.

“For example, sexual harassment, harassment from bosses, colleagues and so on… they are afraid to report it because they fear their work performance assessments will be affected.

“They will eventually decide to keep silent and become depressed. That will eventually affect their work performance.

“There are reports of violence against female civil servants from every sector, but the number of those who refuse to report them is high.

“This is a cause for concern.

“If no action is taken to address the problem, it may become cancerous,” Razali said after the opening ceremony of the Enhancing Quality of Public Service seminar and Addressing Violence against Women campaign in Negeri Sembilan here today.

He said as an effort to address the problem related to violence against women, more campaigns or talks should be organised.

Razali said this would give more exposure and create greater awareness among female civil servants so that they would no longer be afraid to report any harassment.

“By giving exposure through the seminars, it is hoped that female civil servants will be more aware that they can lodge complaints to the top management about the wrongdoings without any fear.

“I also recommend that female civil servants join the unions according to their sector.

“They can also contact members of Public Service Peer Counselling Programme to have someone to talk to if they don’t feel comfortable about talking about the matter with their superiors,” he said.