Below is an account of the current condition and commitments of Malaysia to women’s advancement, as part of a country profiling series we will be featuring on our blog.

In 1995, Malaysia accepted the commitments of the Beijing Platform for Action at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women, which includes the following pledges:

1. Enhance the national machinery for women’s advancement

2. Increase women’s participation in decision-making

3. Safeguard women’s rights to health, education and social well-being

4. Remove legal obstacles and gender discriminatory practices

The same year, Malaysia ratified The Convention to Eliminate Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

However, Malaysian NGO Women’s Aid Organization (WAO) reports that domestic laws must improve women’s rights related to divorce, custody, immigration, domestic violence, property and tax to safeguard against discrimination. Malaysia currently has a progressive Domestic Violence Act, but the legislation only protects married women.

One of the largest difficulties in securing women’s rights in Malaysia is the mixture of both civil and Islamic Sharia law. Under Sharia law, Muslim women are sometimes not afforded the same government protection or equal rights as non-Muslim women. In addition, the Malaysian Constitution does not specifically guarantee equal protection for both sexes.

The U.S. Department of State reports that the government of Malaysia has undertaken several initiatives to promote gender equity in education and the workforce. In fact, women make up more than half of university students. As in many countries around the world, women in Malaysia remain underrepresented in high-level occupations. According to WAO, women make up 36 percent of the workforce.

In February 2009, 250 Muslim scholars from 40 countries met in Kuala Lumpur to promote women’s rights as supported by Islam. Although the five-day conference faced some criticism, attending groups such as Sisters In Islam (SIS) asserted that religious doctrine supports equal rights for women, and that it is skewed interpretation that leaves women discriminated.

The groups pointed to recent successes in Malaysian law in the areas of marriage, divorce and guardianship, but recognized the need for further reform in Malaysia and abroad.

Without laws to combat human trafficking, Malaysia remains a destination country for persons taken from all over Asia for forced labor and sexual exploitation. In order to combat and prevent involuntary servitude, the government must adopt strict trafficking laws, install methods to persecute convicted traffickers, and develop programs to prevent trafficking and help existing victims.

Sources:

Malaysia: International Religious Freedom Report-U.S. Department of State

Women’s Aid Organization (WAO)

Muslim Women Fight for Equal Rights-The Malaysian Insider

Malaysia Country Profile-HumanTrafficking.org