CIVIL society groups believe the only way to improve Malaysia’s human rights record is through education and they hope Putrajaya has included this in Budget 2020.

Two leading rights groups said they are hoping for more funding to educate the public on human rights and women’s rights.

Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) project manager Dobby Chew said the budget, at minimum, must provide adequate resources for various human rights mechanisms and for institutions to function.

It must also expand outreach programmes for human rights education and be able to institutionalise human rights policies in governance.

“The budget must also target holistic education and outreach policy by government agencies.

“This is to ensure that they people know their rights,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Education is necessary if the government is to convince people on contentious issues, such as ratifying the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and the Rome Statute.

Putrajaya under Pakatan Harapan attempted to accede to these treaties but faced backlash from Malay rights groups because of misconceptions that these international conventions would erode the special position of Malays and of the Malay rulers.

“The failure to ratify ICERD and Rome Statute despite the positive development that it would bring to the country indicates the government needs to improve its outreach and education on the benefits of human rights policies.

“Educating the public through schools and universities must also be strengthened and provided with the necessary room and resources to expand and be treated as a fundamental aspect of our education system,” Chew said.

Besides the education system, Putrajaya could also fund “narrative-building activities”, such as showing human rights documentaries on public television and holding public forums and town hall meetings.

The Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO), meanwhile, wants the government to provide more funds to the Social Welfare Department.

This will enable the department to better support domestic violence survivors, said WAO executive director Sumitra Visvanathan.

“Funds are needed to hire more social welfare officers, upscale training, expand counselling services, and so on.

“Secondly, the government should increase funding for the one-stop crisis centres (OSCCs) in public hospitals, which provide crucial medical services to survivors of violence,” she said.

Another crucial area needing funding is domestic violence shelters, which are severely lacking in Malaysia.

“International best practices recommend a minimum of one family place in a women’s shelter per 10,000 people.

“Malaysia only has an estimated one family place per 72,538 people. The government must allocate more funds for shelters to enable survivors to leave abusive homes.”

Sumitra said police reports on domestic violence have nearly doubled since 2010.

“Hence, the police Sexual Crimes and Crimes Against Children Division (D11) should be given more funding to manage this increase.”

Another issue that needs attention is to increase women’s participation in the workforce where the government can improve accessibility and affordability of childcare, she said.

“Childcare is largely out of reach for many parents, especially those from low-income groups.

“In Budget 2019, the government allocated RM10 million to set up 50 childcare facilities in government buildings. This is a positive step, which should be expanded in Budget 2020.” – October 11, 2019.