Speaking up for our women

State Side: By JOHAN FERNANDEZ

Malaysia’s laws on protection of women’s rights came under close scrutiny by an international panel of experts from the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) at the United Nations last Wednesday.

The 23-member panel raised several penetrating questions during the day-long session that was devoted entirely to Malaysia. All countries which have acceded to CEDAW go through this process every two years. For Malaysia, this was the first time since it acceded to the convention in 1995.

Malaysia’s team of experts from various ministries and departments was led by Datuk Faizah Mohd Tahir, secretary-general of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development.

Faizah, in her opening remarks, touched on Malaysia’s education, health and labour policies affecting women. She also spoke on the role of women in politics and the various laws that protected their rights.

She told the panel that since Malaysia’s accession to the convention, laws had been reviewed to ensure compliance, for example, by including the word “gender” in the Constitution.

Other amendments included changes to the Pensions Act so that widows did not lose their pensions even if they were to remarry; amendments to the Land Group Settlement Acts to allow former wives who acted jointly to develop an estate to become property owners; and amendments to the Penal and Criminal Code to provide a wider definition of rape and stiffer penalties for that crime.

Faizah: ‘The government has created guidelines to promote a positive portrayal of women in textbooks’

The Domestic Violence Act was also being reviewed to include emotional, mental and psychological forms of domestic violence.

At the workplace, laws had been enacted to deal with sexual harassment.

Faizah also spoke on recent controversies over Islamic family law, saying that such laws fell under state jurisdiction but were monitored by the federal government.

During the question-and-answer session, Bangladesh expert Salma Khan, citing NGO sources, said polygamy had been made easier for men in Malaysia, and asked how the government would respond to the non-fulfilment of its treaty obligations on this?

“Why was such a narrow interpretation of syariah law accepted?” she asked.

Another issue that was raised related to the case of Beatriz Fernandez, a MAS stewardess who lost her job after she became pregnant.

Cees Flinterman, an expert from the Netherlands, said Fernandez had invoked the convention’s provisions but the Court of Appeals had not respected that. The courts, he said, were required to take judicial notice of the country’s international obligations.

Was there any intention to domesticate or incorporate the convention and gender equality into national law? he asked. What was being done to familiarise the judiciary with women’s rights treaties and the convention?

A Malaysian delegate said the Attorney-General’s office was taking action to ensure that the case would not affect Malaysia’s obligations to the treaty.

Silvia Pimentel of Brazil asked how the government proposed to ensure practical application of the Domestic Violence Act. How were sexual harassment and marital rape being addressed?

Arocha Dominguez of Cuba said Malaysia enjoyed a greater distribution of wealth among social groups compared to other countries, but pointed out that an improved economic, political and social environment did not resolve cultural stereotypes and patterns.

Faizah, while conceding the urgent need to remove sex-role stereotypes, said the government had created guidelines to promote a positive portrayal of women in textbooks.

The Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia had also helped to develop a content code for television and radio programmes whereby any portrayal of explicit sexual activity was prohibited, as was advertising portraying men, women or children as sex objects.

Zou XiaoQiao, an expert from China, asked for more details on women’s participation in politics and decision-making, following the government’s joint activities with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Belmihou-Zerdano of Algeria took issue over the prohibition of a woman married to a foreigner to transfer her nationality to her children, even when there was no religious obstacle to doing so under Muslim law.

Another issue raised related to policies and programmes to protect migrant workers.

To its credit, the Malaysian team was able to answer the questions thrown at them but the forum also clearly showed that what we do at home is coming under greater international scrutiny.

Six representatives of NGOs in Malaysia, who two days earlier had presented their shadow report, watched the whole proceedings describing the event “empowering and a learning experience”.

Ivy Josiah of the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) said this was the first time they were able to state their positions on various issues together as a group to an international body.

Zaitun Mohamed Kasim of Sisters in Islam said that there had to be a check and balance on the laws and policies being implemented.

“There should also be a timeline for the implementation of these laws, otherwise we can come back two years later and things can remain very much the same,” she said.

She said the NGOs were not here to find faults but to get to “the kernel of the issues”.

“We are looking forward to the final comments of the committee. We are happy with the progress and we want to share this experience with our friends back home,” said Josiah.

Johan Fernandez is Editor, North America Bureau, based in New York (e-mail: johan10128@aol.com)

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