ALMOST nine in 10 people favour policies that protect women from discrimination, revealed a recent survey.

The survey, titled Malaysia Temperature Check revealed that 89% of its respondents agreed that more policies are needed to ensure women are not subjected to sexual harassment in any context.

It was conducted by Vase.ai in collaboration with Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO), Undi18, and Architects of Diversity.

It revealed widespread support for increased paid maternity and paternity leave, policies to create a fair working environment for women, and policies to encourage fathers and mothers to equally share the care and domestic responsibilities.

The findings also revealed that Malaysians are in favour of policies that promote workplace gender equality.

From the survey, 70% of Malaysians believe that paid paternity leave for fathers should increase, meanwhile another 75% agreed that the total paid maternity leaves for mothers should increase.

Currently, the Employment Act provides 60 days of paid maternity leave for the private sector, and proposed amendments to the Act would increase this to 90 days, in line with the International Labour Organization’s recommended minimum standard.

Equal share

Eighty-six percent of Malaysians also agreed that more policies should be in place to encourage fathers and mothers to equally share in care and domestic responsibilities.

The survey had 1,027 respondents, of which 51% were female and 49% male. The majority of the respondents were 45 years old and above while 57% of the respondents were Malay.

Meanwhile, 91% agreed that more policies should be in place to create a fair working environment for women, such as a nursing rooms for mothers.

Additionally, 84% of Malaysians agreed that more policies should be in place for women to be granted the same job opportunities as men, while 83% of Malaysians agreed that more policies are needed to ensure women are paid equally for the same work as men.

The proposed amendments by WAO to the Employment Act included a prohibition of gender discrimination against employees, which means employers would no longer be able to discriminate against women in the workplace.

WAO said the proposed amendments would be to stop discrimination such as through limiting opportunities for advancement for women, or by hindering women from equally participating in the workplace by failing to provide necessary facilities.

The provisions also included protection against termination for pregnant women.

“While a critical measure, these protections must also be extended to job seekers, since many women are currently discriminated against in the recruitment and interview stage on the basis of their gender or pregnancy status,” the group said in a statement.

WAO said parliament should act swiftly in its next session to table and pass the proposed amendments to the Employment Act, which encompass policies that have been found to enjoy the support of a vast majority of citizens.

Malaysia is a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw), which is reviewed every four years by the Cedaw committee.

Besides protecting women and promoting gender equality in the workplace, 91% of respondents agreed that more policies are needed to protect women against violence, including physical and online violence.

Lockdown violence

Pandemic lockdowns have made women and girls more vulnerable to a range of harmful practices, including but not limited to domestic violence, unplanned pregnancies, and teenage pregnancies, and increased maternal mortality due to unassisted home births.

Girls, especially, are disproportionately affected by school closures, leading to elevated rates of child sexual abuse and child marriage.

According to WAO, reports of domestic violence remained high despite the easing of movement controls allowing people to leave their homes.

WAO received a total of 879 (493 calls and 386 texts) enquiries on domestic violence in June.

“By tabling and passing the proposed amendments to the Employment Act in November, Parliament has the opportunity to implement policies that are widely supported by Malaysians towards closing the gender gap in employment,” the group said.

Details of the survey can be found here. – October 1, 2020.