women's rights Archives

Uphold Religious and Spiritual Values on Sexual Morality and Family Unit

23 Jul 2020360 Views0

MACSA is supportive of the statement made by the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department for Religious Affairs, YB Datuk Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri in his Facebook page dated July 10, 2020 calling on the Religious Enforcement Officers of Federal Territories' Islamic Affairs Department (JAWI) to not arrest but also provide religious education so that the transgender community can “return to the correct path”. The call was made in the light of recent scandal sparked by the sharing of lewd photographs by an infamous transgender cosmetic entrepreneur, is a welcome step towards upholding Islam’s religious and spiritual tradition on sexual relationship consisting of man-woman and its traditional family unit of husband-wife-children relationship. It is however regrettable that this ca...

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Expedite Amendments Of Employment Act To Protect Women

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05 Nov 2019260 Views0

MACSA repeats its past demands for the Government to materialize its pledge for greater protection towards the employees in private sectors. It is pertinent now more than ever considering the acknowledgement by the Ministry of Human Resource that there is a huge gap within our laws, which has failed to provide the necessary protection for pregnant women seeking employment. Amend the Employment Act 1955 The promise for a comprehensive amendment to our Employment Act 1955 [Act 265] must be honored and addressed by the Government to ensure that women are neither discriminated by reason of their marital status nor for their religious belief nor for their ethnicities. The Malaysian Government has taken a bold move in declaring its commitment for inclusivity but this means nothing if women

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The Incoming 3rd Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) for Malaysia at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva

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25 Oct 2018259 Views0

In two weeks time, on the 8th of November 2018, an important proceeding will be taking place at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, in Geneva. Malaysia’s human rights practices will be scrutinised in a mechanism known as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). A multitude of recommendations are expected to be made by the UN member countries across the world, from the call for Malaysia to ratify various international human rights treaties to basic issues such as freedom of speech and religion, the rights of stateless persons and refugees, equality between the sexes, inter-ethnic harmony, and many more. MACSA, or in full the Malaysian Alliance of Civil Society Organisations in the UPR Process, will be sending a delegation of eight human rights defenders consisting of academics, ...

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WAO is Missing the Points on Modest Clothing

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08 Aug 2018286 Views0

We would like to refer to a letter to the Star dated August 8, 2018 from the Women’s Aid Organization (WAO) headlined “More to focus on than policing women’s clothing”. The WAO seems to miss some rather important points. Firstly, study by the Women's Alliance For Family Institution and Quality Education (WAFIQ) in collaboration with Centre for Human Rights Research & Advocacy (CENTHRA) and Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) has shown that as many as 5.7% female Muslim respondents reported that they're not allowed to wear hijab, and out of this, 60.9% is from the private sector. There is a substantial number of women in the workforce in Malaysia who are very distressed that they are not able to choose what they want to wear which happens to be Shariah-compliant clothing. They

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Menangani Masalah Diskriminasi Agama dan Gangguan Seksual di Kalangan Wanita di Tempat Kerja

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31 Mar 2018315 Views0

TERJEMAHAN Penglibatan wanita dalam sektor pekerjaan negara telah meningkat dari 5.72 juta dalam suku kedua tahun 2017 kepada 5.76 juta dalam suku ketiga tahun yang sama, seperti yang dinyatakan oleh Ketua Perangkawan, Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin. Kadar penyertaan wanita dalam tenaga kerja di Malaysia adalah 54.3% pada tahun sebelumnya. Trend terkini menunjukkan kadar ini akan semakin meningkat dari tahun ke tahun. Peningkatan penglibatan wanita di sektor pekerjaan ini memerlukan perhatian yang serius dari pimpinan dan pembuat dasar, terutama sejak akhir-akhir ini dimana terdapat aduan tentang amalan diskriminasi dan gangguan seksual terhadap wanita di tempat kerja. Pertubuhan Ikatan Wanita Antarabangsa bagi Institusi Keluarga dan Pendidikan Berkua

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Addressing Religious Discrimination And Sexual Harassments Against Working Women

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31 Mar 2018257 Views0

Women’s participation in the national workforce has increased from 5.72 million in the second quarter of 2017 to 5.76 million in the third quarter in the same year according to Chief Statistician of the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin. The female labour force participation rate for Malaysia was 54.3% the year before. Current trends indicate that the participation of women in the national workforce are set to rise even further. The rising number of women in Malaysian workforce requires considerable attention from management and policymakers, especially of late when there have been reports on discriminatory practices as well as sexual harassment occurring at the workplace. The International Women's Alliance for Family Institution and Quality Ed...

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Equitable Rights and Re-Examining the Concept of Gender

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08 Mar 2018276 Views0

2018 is the year to empower women. Yet there is still much work to be done. The legal frameworks and policies – pertaining to marriage and family, are still perceived as unsatisfactory in protecting the rights of Malaysian women. Although undeniably, our legislative bodies have made some improvements, however many have criticized these changes as either superficial or, at the very least, insufficient. Issues such as discrimination and violence against women, sexual harassment, job dissatisfaction, income disparity, inadequate women representatives in policy-making bodies or in boards of directorship continue to be familiar conundrums that plague our society. To address these issues, our society must be prepared to adopt tools that would provide valuable insights in eliminating inequi...

Press Statements

Ministries Must Intervene to Change Pervasive Hijab-Ban Policy

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12 Nov 2017260 Views0

In a recent statement, Cheah Swee Hee of the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) claimed that the ban on frontline hotel staff from wearing hijab was an International Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for “all hotels”;[1] yet in the same article, hotel manager Syukri mentions that he left working at one hotel and opted to start working in another hotel that does not have such ban. And, of course, any international traveler will know that Cheah Swee Hee’s claim is inaccurate. Staffs wear hijab in hotels all around the world; the Gulf States, Turkey, Indonesia, the UK, the US, do not impose restrictions against religiously mandated attire for their employees; and clearly, many hotels in Malaysia do not either. In short, there is no international SOP banning the hijab; and yes, it is si...