The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) told The Sunday Times it encouraged firms to consider implementing measures such as proper grievance handling or incident reporting systems for such encounters.
"This provides workers with a proper channel to escalate such incidents so that the relevant authority within the company is aware and appropriate actions can be taken," a ministry spokesman said.
He added that victims are free to complain to their HR departments, supervisors or their unions.
If an appropriate complaint channel within the company is not available, they can contact the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (Tafep). Cases may also be referred to the police.
But as of December last year, fewer than a fifth of companies here were unionised. There are limits to what Tafep can do. And in the absence of concrete policies, HR departments are not duty bound to act, counters Aware.
Ms Tan, for example, complained to the police as well as the ministry. The ministry referred her to Tafep, which told her it had "engaged" her former employer and the company would be setting up "grievance handling procedures".
A spokesman said Tafep received only three sexual harassment complaints in the past three years and all three employers, when approached, had followed its advice to set up grievance handling processes. It has also received feedback on 15 other cases though these did not result in formal complaints.
Most of the victims The Sunday Times spoke to either had not heard of Tafep or had no idea they could complain to it. "There is nothing on their website directing victims to complain, unlike the Aware site," pointed out Ms Phua.
A 2006 United Nations study on violence against women stated that in countries where there is no specific legislation to address sexual harassment, there are virtually no records on its extent.
In Singapore, aside from going to Aware, some victims complain to the police, but statistics on the issue are not tracked.
Like Ms Tan's former boss, Ms Rosmah Majid's harasser also got off with a police warning. The 39-year-old mother of two, who worked as an administrative assistant, said she was assaulted by her boss, the managing director of a company that owned a restaurant.
She claimed the married man kept asking her to have sex with him when his wife was pregnant. For months, she ignored him without complaint, even as she desperately looked for another job.
She said that one evening, when she was alone in the office with him, he grabbed her from behind, tried to forcibly kiss her, stripped and ejaculated. She said she ran off.
On the advice of a friend, she lodged a police complaint and approached Aware. The police investigated and told her the man had been warned. "They told me I would have a hard time proving the case if it went to court, as there were no witnesses," said Ms Rosmah, who now works as a receptionist in a shipping company.
