Downpour fails to dampen spirits at women’s day event

At a time when the unusual is considered a new normal, many have been pressured to take alternative approaches to get their message across.

This is no exception to the organisers of this year’s Women’s March Malaysia.

While 2020 saw protesters marching the streets of Kuala Lumpur and 2021 a strictly online protest, this year’s event was a little less uproarious, but not any less passionate.

In conjunction with International Women’s Day, about 150 people showed up to a picnic event at Taman Jaya Park, Petaling Jaya.

It is understood that an actual march was not held to maintain crowd control at all times, in line with current standard operating procedures (SOP).

The event began at 3pm with crowds gathering for a placard-making session which led to several speakers, including Orang Asli, disabled-rights and Tamil activists.

The demands were:

• Ensure the right to women’s bodily autonomy and freedom of choice

• Equal pay for work of equal value

• Ban child marriage

• Declare climate crisis and formulate national plan to mitigate it

• Equal political participation of oppressed genders and sexual identities at all levels

• Establishing and ensuring accessible and safer spaces for oppressed gender and sexual identities online and offline

• Enact legislative reform to realise gender equality

• Prioritise gender mainstreaming in healthcare

• End all forms of violence against oppressed gender and sexual identities

However, showers had begun to fall at around 4pm — hours before it was scheduled to end.

Despite being given the option to leave, protesters maintained wanting to continue, braving through the rain and the muddy field that ensued.

They were heard chanting “Rise, Resist” - the tagline of the event.

Representatives from the Centre for Independent Journalism witnessed the event, while a team of lawyers stood on standby in case they were interrupted.

It was only after the protesters were dismissed that three police officers in uniform showed up at the venue.

While the organisers remained cautious, the officers held friendly conversations requesting details from the event for report-making purposes.

The event organisers explained that they were cleaning up the area, and an officer coolly told them to take their time.

“Take your time. It’s women’s day, we’ll allow it,” said an officer, who later wished her a happy International Women’s Day.

Victim-centric Sexual Harassment Bill

Speaking on legislative reform, women’s rights activist and former Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (Cedaw) member Mary Shanthi Dairiam said the soon to be passed Sexual Harassment Bill is not adequate enough to be victim-centred.

“The definition of sexual harassment needs to be expanded. We all know what sexual harassment is, it’s demeaning, degrading and a very humiliating experience for women or men.

“But it is usually a perpetrator directed at a victim. We have also demanded that the definition of sexual harassment must include any action not necessarily directed (to the victim) which creates a hostile environment,” she said referring to the case of Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam whose teacher allegedly joked about rape.

A speaker from women’s group Justice for Sisters, who highlighted violence against oppressed genders and sexual identities, said that the LGBT community was among those that face the most discrimination.

“Given the increasing anti-LGBT sentiments in Malaysia, LGBT people face widespread discrimination including employment, housing, education.

“We see a fear of discrimination, a fear of being outed, restriction of self-expression and a lack of respect for identities limit employment opportunities for LGBT persons,” she said, calling on the media to correct misinformation such as conversion therapy which is not evidence-based.

Another speaker, reading a statement by the co-founder from Bulan Sisters, talking about gender mainstreaming in healthcare, touched on how the causal link between Covid-19 vaccinations and period abnormality was overlooked.

“Considering periods play a large part in our lives, why is it never talked about on a larger platform?” she questioned.

“Historically there has been an exclusion of women in healthcare and a lack of data on how different drugs may affect women.

“To put this into context, changes in the period were not actually in the list of symptoms because it was an angle that was never considered,” she said.

However, she added that it was merely a short term effect and still encouraged the public to get vaccinated. - Mkini