PETALING JAYA: Women’s rights and welfare in the country can be further upheld, say women’s groups.
Association of Women Lawyers committee member Meera Samanther said among the ways was to increase the number of women, including those with disabilities, in Parliament.
She said this was to ensure that law-making in the Dewan Rakyat could be more inclusive and for legislation to be accessible by each layer of society.
“The existing Persons with Disability Act that we have is a ‘toothless tiger’ as there’s no redress mechanism and penalties,” Meera said when contacted.
She also said there was a need for accessibility to lodge sexual harassment complaints, such as through an e-filing system.
Meera added that this could be improved with the participation of more women as lawmakers.
She said this following The Star’s Monday front-page report on the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry saying that while Malaysia had exceeded its target for women in leadership and reached gender parity in education, women’s participation in the labour force is a concern.Its minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri also said that women were underrepresented in politics, with only 13.5% of MPs, 18% of senators, and 12% of assemblymen.
Nancy had recently attended the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw) in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 22.
Meera said that to address the low participation of women in the labour force, more men should take up family duties in raising their children.
“As the Malaysian population continues to age, looking after aged parents often ends up with women as carers. The government also needs to have affordable aged-care facilities.
“Otherwise, women would leave the workforce to look after their parents,” Meera said.
In 2022, there were 13.5% older people among the regional population, and for those aged 60 and above, the figure will nearly double to 25.2% by 2050.
Meanwhile, Sabah Women’s Action-Resource Group president Dr Easwary Hari Ramulu said that a flexible and supportive working environment should be promoted to help balance family and work life.
She also said that this should be in tandem with women-friendly policies such as zero tolerance for sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace.
“The Global Gender Gap Index 2024 shows that Malaysia has dropped 12 places to 114 out of 146 nations. This is mostly due to our dismal showing in the political empowerment index at 0.068,” she said.
Last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said efforts would be stepped up to encourage women to remain in employment or return to the workforce as Malaysia aims to increase their participation in the labour force to 60% by 2030.
