Thailand
Budget 2021 must make Malaysia a better country for women
The Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) and gender equality-focused social enterprise Engender Consultancy would like to reiterate the importance of Budget 2021 in tackling the gender gaps in our society that have been worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic. Safeguarding women’s safety from violence, women’s employment, and women’s and girls’ access to healthcare must be front-and-centre in Malaysia’s budgetary response to the pandemic.
First, policymakers must strengthen law enforcement and support services for gender-based violence survivors. WAO had previously reported a three-fold spike in distress calls to our hotlines during movement control order lockdowns. However, there is little sign that incidences of intimate partner violence is abating, as the economic distress has aggravated the risks of violence, and widespread physical distancing and work-from-home measures continue to confine survivors at home.
The government must:
> Earmark RM50mil to improve existing shelters and build new ones for gender-based violence survivors.
> Devote RM5mil to operate and improve 24/7 telephone crisis services in Malaysia, including both public and NGO-operated emergency hotlines.
> Commit to an inter-agency fund to train first responders, including police, medical and welfare officers, and integrate these services closer for the benefit of violence survivors.
> Ensure that a dedicated annual fund is available to combat gender-based violence in our disaster management response, including in all future healthcare crises, natural or manmade disasters.
Second, the gender gaps in employment have widened because of the pandemic. Sectors with a high concentration of women workers, such as tourism, hospitality and the services industries, were hardest hit due to global travel restrictions and lockdowns. In the recently released second quarter 2020 labour force survey, the female unemployment rate of 5.5% is significantly higher than the male unemployment rate of 4.7%.
At the same time, the additional unpaid care work when families are confined at home makes it more difficult for women workers to devote the time required for paid work. Between the fourth quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2020, the labour force saw the exit of 85,000 women and 6,200 men. Without meaningful policies to address the care burdens disproportionately borne by women, we risk permanently depressing the female labour force participation rate in the country.
In a survey organised jointly by WAO and online market research company Vase.ai of 1,010 working women in Malaysia, we found that the stresses from the pandemic had adversely impacted women’s employment: 79% of all women workers surveyed reported an increased burden of domestic and unpaid care work since the onset of the pandemic. Of this cohort, almost all reported a loss in income or employment as a result.
Hence, it is urgent that the Budget 2021 address women’s employment and participation in the labour force by:
> Prioritising subsidised adult education and lifelong learning programmes for women after their career break to close the gender gap in labour force participation rate.
> Carrying out amendments to the Employment Act to prohibit discrimination against employees and job-seekers on the basis of gender, ethnicity, age and disability status, introducing seven-day paternity leave, increasing paid maternity leave to 90 days, and enshrining workers’ right to flexible work arrangements.
> Increasing public investment in the care economy, especially by increasing government-operated, workplace and community-based childcare centres, and by increasing producer subsidies to operators.
> Shifting away from the current regressive tax exemption for childcare support, as well as prioritising and creating access to targeted childcare subsidies for tax-ineligible households within the B40 (lower income) category.
Third, we must emerge from this crisis with a stronger healthcare system for the vulnerable, especially at-risk women. This is especially so since critical public health resources have been diverted to fighting the pandemic, reducing healthcare support and access for at-risk communities.
We must:
> Strengthen the capacity of primary healthcare providers in responding to cases of domestic violence and gender-based violence.
> Ensure the full and continuous functioning of all one-stop crisis centres (OSCC) across the country, including budgeting for training and for adequate numbers of specialised staff; as well as raising awareness of OSCCs through nationwide campaigns.
> Design a national strategy to reduce the maternal mortality rate as part of a long-term plan to improve sexual and reproductive healthcare for women and girls – which has been set back by lockdowns.
The pandemic has disproportionately affected vulnerable communities, especially at-risk women. Budget 2021 must help Malaysia emerge from the pandemic as a better country for women.
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2020/11/05/budget-2021-must-make-malaysia-a-better-country-for-women