Gov't to review laws to give better protection to women, children

The Women and Family Development Ministry will look into the possibility of reviewing laws to give better protection to women and children, said Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Wan Azizah, who is also the minister for women and family development, said the ministry will discuss the matter with the attorney-general. 

"This will include the (drafting) of Gender Equality Bill, we will invite all stakeholders to discuss the issues," she said on her first day at the ministry.

However, she said the ministry has not set a timeline for the bill to be tabled in Parliament.

"We will have more consultation with NGOs because we have to take into account also the Islamic and conservative input. We have to answer and address (the concern of the relavant stakeholders)," she said.

Wan Azizah stressed the importance of taking enough time to prepare the bill.

"We have to get it right before we table the bill in Parliament (to prevent) a big hoo-ha. We have to get it right because it is an important bill," she added.

The former administration had promised to draft the bill, which aimed to address gender discrimination and balance the roles of men and women in the nation’s development.

The BN government had planned to incorporate the principles of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw) into Malaysian laws.

Meanwhile, Wan Azizah said she will meet the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) tomorrow to discuss means to support homemakers.

In its election manifesto, Pakatan Harapan had promised to impose a mandatory contribution for homemakers, with RM50 to be contributed to each homemaker and two percent of their spouses’ EPF contributions to be channelled towards them.

[More to follow]  - Mkini