MALAYSIA is far from achieving gender equality even though the status of women has improved over the years, women’s groups said.

They said women are held back by a patriarchal social structure and lack of political participation.

They said women have a tendency of eventually choosing their family over their career.

Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) senior advocacy officer Kiran Kaur told The Malaysian Insight only 14.9% of parliamentarians are female.

“While some men may be aware of the problem, they do not experience the systemic inequality that women experience every day. Thus, they formulate policies and decisions that ignore equality and these experiences are critical to making effective political changes and decisions,” Kiran said.

She urged the government to take proactive steps to address unequal policy decisions, including implementing a quota system of at least 30% women.

Kiran said it is important to have female representation in politics to speak for different groups, and there are many Malaysian women who are capable of that.

“We’re making sure that not just women but the Orang Asli and disabled communities get attention when different groups have issues of significant impact.

“Women’s participation in politics and adequate representation in parliament not only facilitates inclusive and influential policies, but also provides a platform for female politicians to speak and inspire the next generation of women to break down gender stereotypes. 

“Women’s participation in politics is also critical to empowering women and girls to pursue opportunities in different fields and to help create a more just and equitable society,” she said.

Sisters in Islam communications officer Aleza Othman said Malaysia ranks 103rd among of 146 countries on the Malaysian Gender Gap Index ranking.

Aleza said women make up 48.64% of the population so it is crucial to have more women in the cabinet to ensure that women’s issues are addressed.

She said there is evidence that having more women MPs will benefit public policies.

A study in India found that councils with female members had a 62% higher rate of drinking water than districts with male-majority councils.

“In Norway, there is a direct relationship between municipal councils with women and childcare coverage” she said.

Yet women politicians face the challenges of a lack of family and social support, sexism, misogyny, and ability gaps as they are less likely than men to have the education and resources they need to succeed in their field, Aleza said.

Family over career

KLSCAH women’s committee president Ong Soo Lee said Malaysia has a strongly patriarchal society.

She said many women are family-oriented because of religion and tradition, preferring to care for children and the elderly at home.

“Women are becoming more educated, but it is regrettable that many women choose to return to their families at the peak of their career,” Ong said.

She said female politicians require the support and encouragement of their family.

“As long as women have the support they will have the courage to participate in politics,” she said.

“Unfortunately, women are more inclined to choose to sacrifice themselves to help others.”

To encourage more women to participate in politics, she said Malaysia must first put an end to sexist remarks in parliament and ensure that women are respected.

“We believe that children and husbands should wake up and help with household chores.”

Strive for equality

Malaysian Women’s Development Agency deputy president Ng Geok Chee believes that to raise women’s participation in politics, political parties must take the lead in reform.

She admitted it is difficult to promote gender equality in Malaysia.

For example, she said, it took 12 years for an anti-stalking law to be passed to protect women.

“Why is it that although women account for half of the population, our country is mostly led by a single gender? This is abnormal. This affects women’s welfare,” she said.

She added that the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act took more than 10 years to pass and questioned why it took so long to advance women’s issues.

She said women’s strong decision-making traits will make breakthroughs in community development.

“The disabled and vulnerable groups need attention. If male political workers ignore it, women will share and cooperate to make the country’s development become a reality.

Ng agreed that even though many young people say that women are equal, the latter often have to obey men when making important decisions.

“It’s a pity that not only do the men have this idea, women themselves lack awareness,” she said.

“As a lawyer, I have handled estate distribution cases where the father was willing to distribute the property equally among his children, but the mother herself thought that the daughter would marry and move on and hence was not willing to give her a fair share of the property.”

“This generation of women is still influenced by the patriarchy and it may take two or three generations of effort to achieve gender equality.”

Ng said it is gratifying to see changes in the government sector where women are occupying more than 30% of the high positions. In the private sector, however, the men still hold the top jobs, she said.

“Females account for 65% of college students, but only 55% of women are in the workforce.

“In many cases, it is not only the social structure that is to be blamed. Women should ask themselves they are making an effort to pursue gender equality.” – October 4, 2022.