Today’s women still face gender bias
Published on: Saturday, December 13, 2014
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It enhances Article 8 (1) of the Federal Constitution which reads: All persons are equal before the law and entitled to equal protection of the law.
The principle of gender equality aims to eradicate the disabilities imposed on women based on cultural definitions of her role in society, and not merely discrimination based on her biological-reproductive capacity or other biological traits.
The amendment was in furtherance to Malaysia’s commitment to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 1979 (Cedaw) that Article 8 (2) of the Federal Constitution was amended in July 2001 to include gender as a basis for non-discrimination.
Prior to the amendment, Article 8 (2) read that there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the ground of religion, race, descent or place of birth in any law or in the appointment under a public authority or in the administration of any law.
Malaysia signed and ratified the Convention in 1995. Cedaw is a women’s rights instrument which contains elements of both civil and political rights, and economic, social as well as cultural rights.
Article 1 of Cedaw reads: For the purposes of the present Convention, the term “discrimination against women” shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women (irrespective of their marital status) on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.
And now the inclusion of gender in Article 8 (2) provides for three things, namely:
l Non-discrimination against females on the basis of cultural definitions of their role in society.
l Non-discrimination against females on the basis of her biological sex differences.
l Non-discrimination against males on the basis of biological sex differences.
So theoretically, gender discrimination should now be a thing of the past, coupled with the National Policy on Women 1989 which aims to ensure equitable sharing in the acquisition of resources, information, opportunities and benefits of development for men and women.
Its other primary objective is to integrate women in all sectors of national development in accordance with their capabilities and needs in order to enhance the quality of life, eradicate poverty, ignorance and illiteracy, and ensure a peaceful, harmonious and prosperous nation.
On top of it, we have the Third Millennium Development Goal (MDG 3) to promote gender equality and empower women with a target to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education and at all levels of education no later than 2015.
But sadly, the current situation isn’t desirable as pointed out by participants during the recent Seminar on Rights and Issues of Women and Children at Wisma Wanita in Kota Kinabalu. It was organised by the Legal Committee of the Sabah Women’s Advisory Council (MPWS). MPWS is a “think tank” and consultative body to the State Government on Women’s Issues.
At the Seminar, the Forum on “Protecting The Rights of Women And Children: How Far Have We Achieved”, dwelled on women’s rights vis-à-vis discrimination, sexual harassment/rape, abuse against women, choosing one’s life partner, divorce, maintenance and property inheritance.
Presently, rape is still a scourge and there are no laws in Malaysia against sexual harassment at the workplace. The concern over whether “unwed mothers” have a right to keep their babies was also raised because of reports that the mothers of these “unwed mothers” forcefully bundled off the babies to be given away almost immediately after delivery.
As far as victims of domestic violence are concerned, the Government has provided homes or crisis centres throughout the country to shelter them in ensuring women’s right to protection from physical abuse.
Protection for women in Malaysia was further enhanced in 2012 when an amendment was made to the Domestic Violence Act (DVA) 1994 to provide for arrest of the perpetrator in conjunction with Section 323 of the Penal Code. A new Section – Section 18(A) for Protection of Women – was incorporated into the Domestic Violence (Amendment) Act 2012 – governing offences involving domestic violence (physical, mental and sexual violence).
However, despite Article 8 (1) of the Federal Constitution (which states that “all persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law” and Article 8 (2) of the Federal Constitution which was amended to prohibit gender discrimination, women claim that discriminatory practices are still happening in the facets of hiring, job assignment, promotion, termination, compensation and harassment.
At the forum, women cried out against gender bias in terms of employment or promotion opportunities or even in respect of decision-making, claiming that male chauvinists were depriving them of the chance to scale the career ladder.
There was a unanimous call for women in Malaysia to leap forward, stressing that the implementation of laws supporting women’s rights must be firm. Yes, women are empowered with rights through legislation, government policies, programmes and affirmative action but the implementation process is weak.
The forum chaired by senior lawyer Mary Florence Gomez elicited mixed views from the panel members and participants.
To begin with, a segment of the menfolk still has a low evaluation of the capabilities of women lawyers, among other professionals.
Sharing an experience, Gomez said she was once assigned as a counsel to a male criminal who was jailed at the Sabah Prisons.
“When I turned up at the venue, he was surprised to see me as he expected to meet a male lawyer. He asked me point-blank, ‘Perempuan pun boleh belakah?’ (Can a woman also defend?),” she recalled.
In retrospect, Prof Datin Noor Aziah Mohd Awal, who is Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student and Alumni Affairs), said when she was a law lecturer, she received calls from abused women as early as 3am in the wee hours of the morning.
“I had to get permission from my husband to leave the house to attend to their needs. That was in 1985. And today, we still hear of such cases in our midst, although many women-based organisations are addressing the issue of violence against women (VAW),” she lamented at discrimination against women no longer occurs in the Malaysian Government (public sector) but the same cannot be said of the situation in the private sector.
“We must step up efforts to eliminate gender discrimination in the private sector,” she added.
At this juncture, Prof Noor Aziah cited the case of Beatrice A/P Fernandez versus Malaysia Airlines System (MAS) in 1998. As an employee (Grade B flight stewardess), the collective agreement she signed with MAS required her and all other stewardesses (in the same category) to resign upon becoming pregnant. MAS had the right to terminate her services in the event of her refusal to resign. Fernandez refused to resign when she became pregnant and was terminated by MAS. This led her to file a legal suit at the High Court submitting that the provisions of the collective agreement were discriminatory in nature and therefore contravened Article 8 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia 1957.
“As pregnancy is part of women’s identity and reproductive capacity, they should never be discriminated against, particularly in employment,” she reasoned. “Please appreciate and respect women for their biological differences.”
Speaking from experience, Norahiza Abdul Rahman who represented the Federal Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development maintained that there was transparency for promotion in the public service in that prescribed forms for application were given to qualified officers by the Public Services Department (JPA).
However, she was of the opinion that women should promote themselves within the civil service.
“Don’t wait for them to give you the form,” said the Ministry’s Women and Family Policy Division Deputy Secretary.
In response to a participant bemoaning women’s difficulty in securing promotions compared with their male counterparts, ASP Gloria Vincent Balang, a Staff Officer of the Sabah Police Contingent Headquarters’ Women and Children Sexual Offences Investigation Division, said it was a common problem.
Calling on women employees to prove their mettle despite the constraints faced, she advised:
“When entrusted with a task or responsibility, women must show beyond doubt that they are capable officers by completing the assignment without much ado.”
The forum also lamented that the political representation of women in the Malaysian Parliament and respective State assemblies remains low.
Prior to the 13th General Election in May 2013 and even before that, women political leaders, pressure groups, women non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and women’s rights activists had been appealing to the top leaders in the Barisan Nasional (BN) Government to nominate more women candidates with some groups demanding a 30pc representation. Obviously, the beseeching had fallen on deaf ears.
“Thank God, YB Datuk Nancy is in as a Minister in the Federal Cabinet,” Prof Noor Aziah said. “However, the extremely low number of women in the Federal Cabinet must be looked at seriously.”
Datuk Nancy Shukri, who is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, is only one of two women ministers in the 32-member Federal Cabinet, the other being Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim. And this registers only 6.2pc women representation in the Federal Cabinet.
Of the 26 Deputy Ministers, only five are women namely, Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun, Deputy Minister of Works, Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin, Deputy Minister of Education I, Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching, Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries & Commodities, Datuk Noriah Kasnon and Deputy Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing & Local Government, Datuk Halimah Mohd Saddique, registering 19.2pc women representation as Deputy Ministers.
It is a similar scenario in the Sabah State Assembly with only one woman minister in the person of Datuk Jainab Ahmad Ayid as Minister of Community Development and Consumer Affairs. At this level, women representation is only 9pc, way off the 30pc Government policy of women’s participation in decision-making in the public sector.
Meanwhile, Prof Noor Aziah drew the participants’ attention to the fact that the marriage age is getting younger and younger, saying this is becoming a trend.
“Personally, I know of a case involving a 12-year-old child bride in the Peninsula. But it was allowed by the Syariah Court.
“I think we have to justify marriage. The couple must have knowledge and skills and be aware of the pitfalls of marriage. There are a lot of challenges involved such as the need for multi-tasking (as expected of mothers), work pressure and presence of in-laws,” she pointed out.
Apparently, parents allow their young children to marry early by giving their blessing to the union when circumstances are beyond their control. “Those with the financial capability to do so, marry their children off and may continue to support until the young couple can stand on their own two feet.”
While acknowledging the right to divorce with mutual consent in order to expedite the ending of a troubled marriage in the Syariah Court, Prof Noor Aziah expressed regret that in such instances, people don’t see the value of marriage which is about building the family institution.
“There is still a backlog of divorce cases yet to be settled, partly due to lack of mutual consent. The ex-wife and children have a right to maintenance. There must be procedures to expedite the divorce proceedings.
“Even in countries like New Zealand and Japan, they have the Family Support System and Child Support System in place whereby there is automatic deduction from the husband’s salary for wife and child maintenance,” she said.
For non-Muslim couples, they have to petition for divorce in the High Court under the Law Reform (Marriage & Divorce) Act 1976.
At one stage, the forum called for sexual and reproductive health to be taught in schools, given the high incidence of teenage pregnancies and child dumping in the country, which is attributed to unprotected sex, among other contributory factors.
“Only 40pc understand what contraception is all about,” a panellist said, adding that child marriages are also on the rise in Malaysia.
However, others contended that if parents are functional and supportive, there would be no need for sexual and reproductive health as a subject in schools.
“Parents are not talking enough to their children; this is becoming an alarming thing. It cannot be merely talking; parents must communicate and go deep into the issues at hand.
“You can’t expect others to talk to your children on something intimate. That being the case, the children are likely to get information from their peers or through the Internet,” they pointed out.
Meanwhile, Unicef Malaysia representative, Maya Fachrani Faisal expressed concern that while Malaysia has striven to combat poverty and brought down the overall poverty rate, child poverty is always higher and rightfully so because in one household, you have an average of four people but in the poorer homes, you have more than four children in a household.
“Hence, the level of vulnerability is higher among children, and that’s why the pattern (of child poverty) usually is double the rate of the country’s overall poverty rate.”
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