WAO: Dress code for Muslim women in private sector is discrimination

File photo of Ipoh City Council dress code in 2015.

PETALING JAYA: The Women's Aid Organisation (WAO) has urged the government to stop policing what women wear.

In a statement on Tuesday (Aug 7), WAO rejected the idea of having a dress code for Muslim women, as this restricts their freedom of expression.

"Such policies are also extremely sexist, as they are based on the stereotype that women are seductresses," the statement read.

The organisation said this in response to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Mujahid Yusof Rawa announcing on Monday that the government is working on a dress code for Muslim women in the private sector.

Mujahid said yesterday that the dress code is meant to "prevent discrimination against Muslim women". WAO however rejected this, and said that these efforts would have the contrary effect.

"The minister has missed the point completely. Restricting what women wear is, in and of itself, discriminatory, and this policy would end up discriminating women who do not conform to the code," the statement continued.

They suggested that the government focus on more "substantive" issues such as child care, increasing women's labour force participation and enacting a Sexual Harassment Act and a Gender Equality Act.

"This would protect against gender discrimination and accelerate gender equality. It’s time we stop obsessing about how women dress; women are more than their clothes and appearance."