ONLY 37 women candidates will be contesting in Johor, come Saturday, out of 239 candidates. That is hardly even 15% of the total. And as of February last year, only 14.9% of seats at the Parliament are held by women.
This is not about messy tangles that cannot be straightened out. It is about nonchalance and the absolute absence of a political will to see more women in politics.
“Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow” is UN Women’s rallying cry for this year’s International Women’s Day. Yet in Malaysia, many are struggling to grasp the meaning.
UN Women coined the theme to show a direct relationship between gender, social equity and climate change. And to drill it into us that their lives and livelihoods remain at risk as women have less access to natural resources and in their own words, “bear disproportionate responsibility to secure water, good and fuel”.
While we have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) said Malaysia is trailing behind in terms of women in politics, economic participation and literacy rate.
Sometimes, numbers do not mean much. According to the Malaysia Gender Gap Index (MGGI last year, the country’s gender equality has improved by 74%.
And yet, single mother Loh Siew Hong had to fight tooth and nail to see her three children just because her rogue ex-husband had converted them unilaterally.
As I write this, Indira Gandhi is still trying to find her youngest daughter who was kidnapped by her ex-husband, upon his conversion, despite a court order in her favour.
In essence, empowerment of women and girls also help to meet United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals such as education and eradicating poverty.
Much needs to be done in M’sia
According to UN Women: “As of December 2020, only 45.1% of indicators needed to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) from a gender perspective were available, with gaps in key areas, in particular: violence against women and women in local governments.
“In addition, many areas – such as gender and poverty, physical and sexual harassment, women’s access to assets (including land), and gender and the environment – lack comparable methodologies for regular monitoring.”
Back to Malaysia, it is also important for us to note that while the cases of domestic violence increased dramatically during the pandemic; the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry failed to implement mechanisms to protect women from sexual harassment, sexual violence and physical violence.
In fact, women rights activists gave the ministry a “failed” rating for its first 100 days.
Therefore, while it is important to mark an occasion it does not mean that all is well on the ground. However, I am heartened to see many women who continue to speak truth to power.
Although there is much more to be done, on this International Women’s Day, I will celebrate the courage and conviction of women who would not give up; who again and again, stood up against tyranny.
As US civil rights activist Maya Angelou once said, “Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing its possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.”
Happy International Women’s Day and in solidarity, always!
Charles Santiago is the MP for Klang
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
