Experts of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Commend Malaysia on Legislation to Address Gender-Based Violence, Ask about Female Genital Mutilation and Citizenship
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today concluded its consideration of the sixth periodic report of Malysia with Committee Experts commending the State for legislation to address gender-based violence, while asking about female genital mutilation and issues concerning citizenship and statelessness.
A Committee Expert said it was pleasing to note that the delegation was being led by a high-level Minister. The Expert commended Malaysia for its efforts to amend criminal laws like the Domestic Violence Act, the Penal Code and the Sexual Offences against Children Act, along with the adoption of the anti-stalking law in 2023 to address gender-based violence against women and girls.
To date, the law did not prohibit female genital mutilation, another Expert said. It was estimated that female genital mutilation was practiced on 95 per cent to 99 per cent of females among the Muslim population in the country. Would the State consider criminalising and eliminating female genital mutilation? What measures were being taken to promote an understanding of the criminal nature of female genital mutilation, and the need to eliminate it, particularly targeting medical staff, parents, community leaders and religious scholars?
One Committee Expert said discriminatory nationality laws continued to undermine women’s equality. Children were at a high risk of statelessness if their Malaysian mothers were unwilling to acknowledge children born out of wedlock. Did the State party have any intention to withdraw its reservation on article 9? Was there any data on stateless women and girls? What measures had been taken to decrease the number of stateless women and children? How many children had been refused citizenship in Malaysia?
The delegation said Malaysia took the recommendations of the Committee regarding female genital mutilation very seriously. Since the last review, the Government had intensified discussions on this practice at the highest level. Engagement was undertaken with religious leaders, civil society and medical experts to improve the body of knowledge regarding female circumcision. Malaysians had become more aware that the practice was grounded in culture and had no health benefits. Malaysia would continue to hold conversations on female genital mutilation and looked forward to learning best practices from the international community.
The delegation said both women and men had equal rights and were given avenues to confer Malaysian citizenship to their children. As of March 2024, 3,000 citizenship applications had been processed. The Government had pledged to resolve the outstanding 14,000 applications for Malaysian citizenship by the end of the year and welcomed all views from stakeholders to ensure a holistic approach in amending the Constitution. The Government had given much consideration to the recommendation to accede to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Malaysia was committed to resolving the citizenship issue, and debates would be held in Parliament.
Introducing the report, Nancy Shukri, Minister of Women, Family and Community Development of Malaysia and head of the delegation, said since the last report, 28 laws and regulations had been repealed, amended or introduced to improve the overall human rights situation in the country, including those related to women and children. Malaysia enacted the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act in 2022 and subsequently established the Tribunal for Anti-Sexual Harassment in March 2024.
In 2023, Malaysia took a landmark step and criminalised stalking, bringing seven cases to court since. Women in Malaysia had gradually attained leadership roles in traditionally male-dominated sectors. Through utilising temporary special measures, Malaysia set a quota of at least 30 per cent of women in decision-making positions. Ms. Shukri concluded by saying that while Malaysia had come a long way after achieving its independence 67 years ago, there were still gaps and challenges that needed to be addressed.
In closing remarks, Ms. Shukri thanked the Committee for the dialogue which had been insightful. It was essential to recognise the correlation between gender discrimination in the context of human rights violations, particularly in conflict-affected regions. Malaysia remained deeply concerned about the crisis in Gaza and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
Ana Peláez Narváez, Committee Chairperson, thanked the delegation for the constructive dialogue with the Committee, which helped it to better understand the situation of women and girls in Malaysia.
The delegation of Malaysia was comprised of representatives from the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development; the Ministry of Education; the Ministry of Home Affairs; the Ministry of Human Resources; the Ministry of Health; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of Education; the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development; the Department of Islamic Development; the Attorney General’s Chambers; the Department of Shariah Judiciary; and the Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’s eighty-eighth session is being held from 13 May to 31 May. All documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage. Meeting summary releases can be found here. The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings can be accessed via the UN Web TV webpage.
The Committee will next meet in public at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 23 May to consider the combined eighth and ninth periodic report of Brazil (CEDAW/C/BRA/8-9).
Report
The Committee has before it the sixth periodic report of Malaysia (CEDAW/C/MYS/6).
Presentation of Report
NANCY SHUKRI, Minister of Women, Family and Community Development of Malaysia and head of the delegation, said this year marked 29 years since Malaysia acceded to the Convention in 1995. Since the last report, 28 laws and regulations had been repealed, amended or introduced to improve the overall human rights situation in the country, including those related to women and children. Malaysia enacted the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act in 2022 and subsequently established the Tribunal for Anti-Sexual Harassment in March 2024. The State also introduced new guidelines to address harassment, abuse, and discrimination in schools. To date, a total of 10,232 schools had started implementing these guidelines.
In 2023, Malaysia took a landmark step and criminalised stalking, bringing seven cases to court since. In July 2023, Malaysia abolished the mandatory death penalty, which saw 34 out of 95 women on death row have their sentences reduced. In April 2024, the amendment to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act 1999 was passed to strengthen the role of the National Human Rights Institution. After a long struggle to grant citizenship to children born abroad to Malaysian women, the amendment to the Federal Constitution was scheduled to continue in the next Parliament session.
The Unity Government came into power in November 2022 and set the target to increase women’s participation in the workforce to 60 per cent in 10 years. In response, the Employment Act 1955 was amended in 2022 to introduce several measures to protect the rights of women, notably restrictions on the termination of pregnant female employees; extension of maternity leave from 60 to 98 days for all female employees; and seven days paid paternity leave to married male employees, among other measures. In 2022, Malaysia introduced the Housewives’ Social Security Act 2022 to provide access to insurance benefits such as healthcare coverage, necessary financial support and assistance.
The “i-Sayang” programme allowed husbands to voluntarily allocate 2 per cent of their monthly Employment Provident Fund contribution to their wives' accounts. Since March 2023, 68,000 husbands had subscribed to this programme and transferred a total savings of 44 million Malaysian Ringgit. Heeding to the recommendation by the Committee on data collection, one of Malaysia’s commendable achievements was the annual publication of the “Statistics on Women Empowerment in Selected Domains” report, serving as a crucial tool to review gender progress.
Women in Malaysia had gradually attained leadership roles in traditionally male-dominated sectors. Through utilising temporary special measures, Malaysia set a quota of at least 30 per cent of women in decision-making positions. Women now made up 30.7 per cent of Board seats in the top 100 public listed companies, meaning the 2030 target was surpassed seven years ahead. In the public service, 38.9 per cent of women currently held decision-making positions within public agencies, and women had been appointed to notable high-ranking positions for the first time, including as the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chief Justice. The recent elections in 2022 saw a record number of 127 female candidates compared to only 75 in 2018. Currently, 13.5 per cent of members of Parliament and 18 per cent of members of Senate were women.
Malaysia was strongly committed to eradicating gender-based violence. Since the last dialogue, the State had established a multi-stakeholder National Committee on Domestic Violence. To date, there were 43 safe places and 12 temporary transit centres designated to provide refuge and assistance to victims of domestic violence. Malaysia provided care and protection to victims of trafficking through eight government shelter homes and had established a victim assistance specialist programme. Since 2019, a total of 276 victims, of which 184 were women, had received assistance.
Since the last dialogue, some progress had been achieved in Muslim family law. In 2021, Malaysia amended three financial services acts to execute “hiwalah” which was the process of freezing bank accounts of fathers, husbands, or ex-husbands who refused to pay alimony as directed by a Sharia court. Since then, 7,112 cases had been resolved. The Government had launched the national strategy plan addressing the causes of child marriage 2020-2025. Two states in Malaysia had increased the legal minimum age to 18, and it was hoped more would follow suit.
Ms. Shukri concluded by saying that while Malaysia had come a long way after achieving its independence 67 years ago, there were still gaps and challenges that needed to be addressed. The delegation stood ready to engage constructively with the Committee.
Statement by the National Human Rights Institution of Malaysia
A representative of the National Human Rights Institution of Malaysia congratulated the Malaysian Government on all its efforts to eliminate discrimination against women. The issue of citizenship remained a key issue. Birth registration was very important and should not be equated to conferring a person with nationality. The proposed Constitutional amendments on citizenship had raised concern that children born to Malaysian residents did not have access to citizenship and also if the marriage to a foreign spouse dissolved after less than two years. The Government needed to adopt a holistic approach in addressing citizenship issues, including by conducting thorough research on the Constitutional amendments.
There was a pressing need to enhance women’s representation in Parliament; out of 283 members, there were only around 40 female members. Increasing women’s quota from 30 to 50 per cent could enhance female representation. The wage gap in Malaysia was prevalent, leaving women at greater risk than men financially. The demand for care was set to increasingly short and long term. The Government was encouraged to establish fair and social protection for workers in gig-based services.
Questions by Committee Experts
HIROKO AKIZUKI, Committee Vice-Chair and Rapporteur for the report of Malaysia, commended Malaysia for the remarkable progress in the establishment of legal, institutional and administrative frameworks that the State had made since the last review. What steps had been taken to withdraw the reservation to article 9 and article 16? Were there discussions on ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention? What steps had been taken to adopt a legal definition of discrimination against women that was all encompassing? Could the status and content of the anti-discrimination women bill be explained?
What efforts had been taken to harmonise national legislation and Sharia law with the Convention? What steps had been taken to eliminate discrimination against women and girls? What was the status of the national action plan on women, peace and security? Were there any cases where the Convention had been invoked in courts? What steps had been taken to enhance women’s understanding of their rights? What was being done to address economic and physical barriers to access to justice for women?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said that Malaysia still maintained reservations on articles 9 and 16 of the Convention. A working committee had been created to assess and evaluate the reservations. To strengthen the ideal of equality before the law, the Constitution forbade discrimination against citizens, including discrimination on the grounds of gender. Malaysia continued to take a two-pronged approach when it came to acceding to the Optional Protocol and would continue to undertake legislative reforms and capacity building. The State had taken numerous efforts to harmonise Sharia law with the Convention, including through educational campaigns to promote gender equality and awareness of women’s rights.
Malaysia acknowledged the Committee’s recommendation to enact a specific bill on gender equality and had begun discussions in this regard in 2020. Positive strides had been made to gender equality by amending the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 2022, defining sexual harassment properly for the first time under law. In 2023, an amendment was made to the Penal Code to criminalise stalking. This now allowed stalkers to be investigated and charged, with imprisonment up to three years if convicted. The Government was planning to revisit the proposed anti-discrimination against women bill. Malaysia offered legal aid to eligible citizens through legal aid centres, including in family law and criminal cases.
The staff working in the judiciary had to work on the weekends to provide access to justice in rural areas. The programme to provide legal aid to rural areas was new and further consultation needed to be undertaken with stakeholders.
Questions by Committee Experts
A Committee Expert said one of Malaysia’s major achievements was the creation of the Ministry of Women, Family and Development. What were the human, technical and financial resources of this Ministry and the planned measures to strengthen it? How was the State party creating an enabling environment to ensure the meaningful participation of civil society? What was the linkage between the Human Rights Commission and the Ministry of Women, Family and Development?
Another Expert asked if temporary special measures had been used to achieve equality for women in areas such as health and political participation? Had specific temporary measures been taken as part of a strategy to achieve de-facto substantive equality for women? What temporary special measures had been taken in regard to education? How was it ensured that these measures were flanked with mechanisms which ensured their effectiveness, oversight and implementation? How fast could special temporary measures be rolled out to assist women experiencing multiple forms of discrimination?
A Committee Expert congratulated Malaysia for what had already been achieved in political life and diplomatic efforts. Why had Malaysia never had a female Prime Minister?
Another Expert asked if the State’s approach to temporary special measures could be explained in more detail?
Reponses by the Delegation
The delegation said that as of December 2023, there were more than 66,000 civil society organizations registered in Malaysia. Malaysia acknowledged the important role of civil society in the development of countries and believed in including them in the conversation. The Council of Women formulated policies and recommended them to the cabinet. Malaysia had undertaken a series of coaching sessions on gender-responsive budgeting to encourage all Government ministries to implement this practice. The collation of sex-disaggregated data had also improved. Every year, the Government prioritised women within the annual budget. Mechanisms had been established for policy implementation on the advancement of women, including the gender focal points and gender focal teams. Thirty-four gender focal points had been appointed, comprising of high-level government officials.
A programme had been launched to enable women to re-enter the workforce after giving birth. The Government had been actively working to reduce disparities between men and women in the workforce, including through the hiring incentives programme. Employers were provided with an additional financial incentive for three months if they hired from specific groups, which included women. Malaysia ranked 122 in the global gender gap index, and the Government was taking steps to improve this ranking and further strengthen women’s participation in politics. During this year’s International Women’s Day celebration, the Prime Minister announced that five million Malaysian ringgits would be allocated to train young women to participate in the political arena. The current law did not bar anyone from being a candidate. Party leaders needed to take the different ethnic groups in the State into account and ensure that all ethnic groups were represented within the State legislative assembly.
NANCY SHUKRI, Minister of Women, Family and Community Development of Malaysia and head of the delegation, said she would like to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia. The political parties in the country had their own rulings, and most were headed by men.
Questions by Committee Experts
A Committee Expert said it was pleasing to note that the delegation was being led by a high-level Minister. The Expert commended Malaysia for its efforts to amend criminal laws like the Domestic Violence Act, the Penal Code and the Sexual Offences against Children Act, along with the adoption of the anti-stalking law in 2023 to address gender-based violence against women and girls. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Content Code articulated the need to break biased portrayal of women and girls. How was the impact of the Code, in eliminating discriminatory stereotypes against women, monitored? Were there any awareness-raising and educational campaigns involving the media, civil society organizations, religious and community leaders, and men and boys? How did the Malaysian Media Council promote women’s rights in the media and protect women journalists from attacks and gender-based discrimination online? What steps were being taken to ensure that dress codes were not made mandatory and that women had the freedom to choose their own attire?
To date, the law did not prohibit female genital mutilation. It was estimated that female genital mutilation was practiced on 95 per cent to 99 per cent of females among the Muslim population in the country. Would the State consider criminalising and eliminating female genital mutilation? What measures were being taken to promote an understanding of the criminal nature of female genital mutilation, and the need to eliminate it, particularly targeting medical staff, parents, community leaders and religious scholars? The Expert commended Malaysia on the increasing number of shelter and transit centres established. Were these accessible to all survivors, including women with disabilities? What steps were being taken to address online violence against women?
Another Expert said the adoption of the National Plan of Action against Gender-Based Violence for Malaysia 2021-2025 was a welcome initiative; had this plan been evaluated? What steps were being taken to strengthen data collection on domestic violence? The Malaysian Government had increased its efforts in prosecuting human trafficking through the amended ATIPSOM Act, which criminalised labour and sex trafficking with stringent penalties. What were the extra measures taken to ensure traffickers were properly prosecuted and sentenced? What steps had Malaysia taken to investigate and address the alleged complicity of public officials in human trafficking? How was progress on the third National Action Plan on Trafficking in Persons being evaluated?
Civil law and multiple versions of Sharia law had not been harmonised under the Convention. No federal law explicitly laid out that prostitution was illegal, but Sharia laws could be disproportionally used against female sex workers. What steps was the Government taking to ensure that the rights and dignity of all individuals, including female prostitutes, were protected and upheld within the Sharia legal framework?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said Malaysia was constantly taking necessary action to address gender stereotyping. The right to freedom of expression was guaranteed to citizens, including in the form of dress codes. The Government did not impose a dress code for those who attended Government offices. Media content that negatively portrayed and degraded women was not allowed. Training on gender equality and violence against girls had been included in the education system. Since inception, a total of 146,000 boys had taken this module. To protect victims of domestic violence, an emergency order could be issued, and psychological support was provided. In 2022, temporary transit centres had been established to provide community-based, immediate protection for victims. The Government established the first transit one-stop centre in February 2024 to provide comprehensive services to victims, including addressing psychosocial issues.
The punishment for the crimes of trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants were equal under the ATIPSOM Act. It was increasingly evident that technology was being misused by traffickers, including to control and recruit victims. Victims were deceived by fake job offers on social media. Most of the victims affected by these technologies were men and there were few female victims. The Government was making increased efforts to combat these online syndicates. Malaysia engaged in international cooperation and information sharing to combat the crime of trafficking. Work was being carried out with non-governmental organization partners to properly identify victims of trafficking and provide assistive services. A provision had been included in the law which allowed officials complicit in trafficking offences and migrant smuggling to receive a civil punishment.
Victims of trafficking were given protection in shelters provided by the Government and non-governmental organizations. Support services, including counselling, free health and medical assistance, and skill training were provided. Victims were also provided with legal support. Since 2015, permission to move freely and permission to work had been introduced for victims of trafficking. Victims could undertake an approval process to be granted freedom of movement and were given the opportunity to remain in Malaysia or to return to their country of origin. Victims of domestic violence could also be placed in the shelters. Government support was provided to the non-governmental organizations which provided shelters for victims.
A women’s anti-crime squad had been created which aimed to address issues relating to violence against women. From 2021 to 2023, there were almost 300,000 members of the squad nation-wide. Malaysians were entitled to freedom of speech and expression, but this needed to be done within the confines of the law. People were more aware of the Media Code, due to awareness-raising programmes, but a study had not yet been taken on effectiveness, as the Code was newly launched.
Malaysia took the recommendations of the Committee regarding female genital mutilation very seriously. Since the last review, the Government had intensified discussions on this practice at the highest level. Engagement was undertaken with religious leaders, civil society and medical experts to improve the body of knowledge regarding female circumcision. The practice of female circumcision was purely voluntary. Malaysians had become more aware that the practice was grounded in culture and had no health benefits. It took time to change cultural mindsets and reconcile the divergent views. It was risky to ban the practice without consent from the community. Malaysia would continue to hold conversations on female genital mutilation and looked forward to learning best practices from the international community.
Malaysia addressed the issue of domestic violence holistically, and had several acts to prevent violence against women. The one stop social support centres served as central reference points for victims of gender-based violence.
Questions by Committee Experts
HIROKO AKIZUKI, Committee Vice-Chair and Rapporteur for the report of Malaysia, said the Committee had received information that those advocating for the rights of Muslim women continued to be at risk of arbitrary arrest, criminalisation and harassment by State authorities. What endeavours had been taken to protect these people from intimidation?
Another Expert said discriminatory nationality laws continued to undermine women’s equality. Children were at a high risk of statelessness if their Malaysian mothers were unwilling to acknowledge children born out of wedlock. Did the State party have any intention to withdraw its reservation on article 9? Was there any data on stateless women and girls? What measures had been taken to decrease the number of stateless women and children? How many children had been refused citizenship in Malaysia?
A Committee Expert asked to what extent women participated within the armed forces in Malaysia. Women could play a big role in peace-making; to what extent was this recognised in Malaysia?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said all persons, including human rights defenders, were entitled to equal protection when their work was carried out within the boundaries of the law. Malaysia was committed to increasing the prevalence of women within peace-keeping operations.
Both women and men had equal rights and were given avenues to confer Malaysian citizenship to their children. As of March 2024, 3,000 citizenship applications had been processed. The Government had pledged to resolve the outstanding 14,000 applications for Malaysian citizenship by the end of the year and welcomed all views from stakeholders to ensure a holistic approach in amending the Constitution. The Government had given much consideration to the recommendation to accede to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Malaysia was committed to resolving the citizenship issue, and debates would be held in Parliament. It was hoped that this would contribute to continuous efforts to reassessing the reservation to article 9 under the Convention.
Malaysia strove to strengthen female rural leadership at the village level, including representation of aboriginal women. It was now compulsory for all publicly listed companies to have at least one female director. The Government had implemented several mechanisms to assist undocumented persons in the country, including outreach registration programme services. More than 123,300 birth registrations and identity cards had been received. There were 849 women in the armed forces. As of 2021, 90 of these had been deployed to United Nations peace-keeping operations.
Questions by Committee Experts
HIROKO AKIZUKI, Committee Vice-Chair and Rapporteur for the report of Malaysia, said the Committee was pleased to see that a series of measures had been taken by Malaysia since the last review, including to increase women’s leadership positions in secondary education institutions, and ensure students’ access to education during the pandemic. What was the status of the draft bill to make secondary education compulsory? Were the studies of girls who were married and pregnant before the age of 18 interrupted? What steps were taken to ensure digital education for disadvantaged women and girls? What measures had been taken by the Ministry of Education to curb bullying in schools? What was being done to provide a safe and educational environment for girls? How were girls encouraged to participate in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects? What had been done to ensure access to education for female asylum seekers and refugees?
Another Expert was pleased to note the increase in paid maternity leave, paternity leave and the ban on forced labour. What measures would the State party take to ensure equal pay for equal work across all sectors? Women with disabilities, refugee women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and intersex women faced intersectional discrimination in accessing employment. What was the State doing to combat this? What steps was the State party taking to include labour protection to all domestic workers in the State party? How did Malaysia ensure that all complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace were investigated, perpetrators punished, and victims protected?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said since the last review, work had been undertaken to amend the Federal Constitution to address the issue of citizenship. Malaysia was taking its obligations in this regard seriously. Malaysia did not prevent any individual from giving birth while in Malaysia and obtaining a birth certificate. Asylum seekers had the right to register the births of their children.
A draft bill would be tabled in Parliament to make secondary education compulsory. Education challenged and changed discriminatory practices, encouraging women to take on leadership roles. The State was committed to investing in girls’ education. The enrolment of Malaysian girls in education had increased in the past three years. The Government had provided high speed internet connection in schools across the country. Malaysia was committed to upholding the principle of non-discrimination in education. The enrolment of girls with disabilities in schools was increasing each year; from 21,000 in 2020 to almost 26,000 students in 2023.
The Government had never denied girls who were married before the age of 18, or who were pregnant, the right to continue their schooling. The right to schooling for pregnant teenagers was guaranteed. A dedicated hotline had been launched to report bullying cases. Through measures such as this, cases of bullying in schools had decreased by 44 per cent in 2023, compared to the previous year. The Government had implemented inclusive policies, including the establishment of community learning centres, to meet the educational needs of children of Malaysian plantation workers. Centres were also established to provide education to non-citizen children. Eighteen alternative education centres had been established in the country.
The national Wage Consultative Council paid a pivotal role in revising minimum wage rates across various sectors. The Council ensured that minimum wage rates were reviewed and adjusted once every two years. Foreign spouses were permitted to search for jobs and to be employed. Domestic workers were protected under the Domestic Workers Act, and could file complaints through the State’s grievance mechanism. Provisions relating to sexual harassment spelt out the responsibility of the employer to investigate complaints of sexual harassment. From 2020 to 2024, the Department of Labour had received 58 complaints regarding sexual harassment at the workplace.
The State recognised the challenges faced by domestic workers. Workers were provided with free accommodation and food by their employers. It was possible that domestic workers could be covered under minimum wages in the future. The State had made steps to reform the education curriculum, with a focus on improving gender equality and reducing negative stereotypes.
Questions by Committee Experts
A Committee Expert congratulated the State party on its successes in increasing life expectancy, significant declines in maternal mortality, continued expansion of public health care services to citizens, including mobile services, and its efforts to expand cervical cancer screening for women between 30-65 years, among others.
However, substantial numbers of women and girls in the State party were unable to access health care because of their status as refugees and asylum seekers. Most refugees and asylum seekers were restricted from opening bank accounts and were unable to transfer funds to pay health care fees. What was being done to ensure that women refugees, asylum seekers and migrants had access to affordable health services, exempting them from having to pay deposits and higher fees than nationals of Malaysia? Would the State be willing to repeal the directive requiring public hospitals to refer undocumented asylum seekers and migrants to the Immigration Department to protect women and girls’ rights to health care? Women and girls in immigration detention lacked access to sanitary and personal hygiene products. Were there plans to improve health and sanitary conditions in prisons and immigration detention facilities and to address inadequate health care?
Abortion was legal in Malaysia, but there was a misconception that it was illegal, and public hospitals and clinics were reluctant to provide abortion services. Was there data on unsafe abortion?
Another Expert said according to responses to the Malaysian labour force survey, 60.2 per cent of women who did not participate in the labour force cited housework, including child and elderly care, and care of persons with disabilities as the main reason for not seeking work. Unpaid care work was a gendered issue, disproportionately affecting women, leading to inequalities in economic opportunities, wages, and retirement benefits. What steps was the State party taking to recognise and reduce unpaid care of women through investments in infrastructure and social services? Would research be undertaken on how much the State party’s health and social system care system saved in the light of unpaid care work done at home?
What was the status of the implementation of the climate change bill and the national adaptation plan? What measures had been taken to reduce equal distribution of disaster risk reduction funds from the Green Climate Fund for women-led adaption projects and to address gendered impacts of disaster risk reductions? Did trade policies in the State incorporate gender equality principles? Would the Government consider appointing a gender focal point on trade?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said Malysia had extended the provision of polio vaccine to all non-national children ages seven and below, eliminating the need for parents to pay for this vaccination. This immunisation was provided free of charge. The Ministry of Home Affairs provided sanitary and other essential hygiene products to female detainees. Abortion was legal in Malaysia under specific circumstances, however, the social stigma limited access to safe abortion services. The Ministry of Health had taken steps to provide comprehensive reproductive services and ensure access to quality services and respect for women’s autonomy and rights.
Any refugees or asylum seekers with documentation from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees were not reported to the Immigration Department. This enabled these people to utilise social services in Malaysia. Malaysia would consider the possibility of repealing the directive requiring public hospitals to refer undocumented asylum seekers and migrants to the Immigration Department. Malaysia was a host country to more than 185,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers, the highest number in south-east Asia. To date, the Government had earmarked more than 87 million Malaysian ringgit for healthcare for card holders with documentation from the High Commissioner for Refugees.
The influx of refugees brought additional challenges to the country. Malaysia reiterated its call to other countries to step up work towards expediting the resettlement of refugees and asylum seekers to third countries. The Government had established shelter homes in 2023 to place foreign mothers and children who had been detained in immigration ports. The three centres were equipped with child friend facilities and housed 98 women and children. The State planned to expand the number of centres across the country.
There was a need to provide more resources to address the rise in care for elderly persons and children. Given that the largest share of working women in Malaysia were micro-entrepreneurs, steps had been taken to expand social protection. Malaysia had a national poverty database in place, which distributed assistance to those in need, including women heads of households.
The Government had conducted 97 engagements, including meetings, workshops and trainings, on climate change. The Government provided disaster aid and a gender-sensitive response in the instance of climate emergencies. Malaysia was vulnerable to climate change, and the Government was developing an adaptation plan through the Green Climate Fund
Questions by Committee Experts
A Committee Expert applauded the State party for launching its policy on rural women. What had been the outcomes of this policy? What percentage of land was currently held by rural women? How many shelters were available for domestic violence victims in rural areas and what was their capacity? Alarming reports had been received on water river contamination in indigenous areas, which disproportionately affected women and girls. How had the needs of rural and indigenous women been included in disaster management risk reduction programmes?
How many women and girls were currently in detention centres? What protection was offered to refugee women who faced sexual violence while living in detention centres? What alternatives to detention centres were planned? What protection measures were in place to ensure the dignity and protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender women? Were there plans to end conversion practices? What steps were taken to prevent the discrimination of women with disabilities and enable them to have bodily autonomy?
The new abolition of the Death Penalty Act was encouraging. Could updated statistics be provided on the number of women facing the death sentence? How many of them were non-citizens? In what ways were the gender-based vulnerabilities, including in drug crimes, considered in sentencing? Were judges trained on these vulnerabilities so that they took them into account?
Another Expert said women on death row needed continuous legal assistance. Would the State party consider removing the reservation to article 16? Would the State party consider raising the age of marriage, which was currently at 16 for the girl child? Would the State call for a standard form marriage contract in which polygamy was prohibited? Would the State consider an equal right to divorce and an equal right to custody and guardianship of children, as well as the annulment of the Ordinance which criminalised adultery and pre and extra marital sex?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said Malaysia was aware of the unique challenges faced by rural women. There were 95 primary schools dedicated to indigenous children. Specific scholarships had been established for indigenous children. Several programmes, including skills training, were dedicated for rural women to improve their livelihood. Land ownership among indigenous people was recognised under Malysia’s laws. The State was committed to improving the mechanism on disaggregated data collection and looked forward to receiving technical assistance from the Committee in this area.
The abolition of the mandatory death penalty came into force in July 2023. Consequential amendments were made to several other laws to give effect to this policy shift. This provided the mechanism for those sentenced to death to have their decisions reviewed by the court. Malaysia continued to impose a moratorium on the death penalty. The Government funded lawyers in cases involving the death penalty and the National Legal Aid Foundation represented the cases of those facing life in prison. Malaysia had taken steps to sensitise government institutions about the principles and rights of the Convention. Thirty-four women on death row had had their sentences reviewed.
Malaysia would continue to review the feasibility of withdrawing its reservations to human rights conventions in a holistic manner. Female detainees with young children were placed in separate blocks in immigration centres. Enforcement agencies often visited immigration centres and continuous improvements were being made as a result of visits and feedback. Refugees and asylum seekers with documentation from the High Commissioner for Refugees were allowed to remain in Malaysia while waiting to be resettled to a third country.
Malaysia was guided by the Constitution, the Penal Code and the Sharia law for those of Muslim faith. The concept of guardianship in Islam aimed to protect the rights of women and girls; women and girls’ consent was requested two times before a marriage was permitted. Poverty could not be used as an excuse to allow an underage marriage. Malaysia looked seriously at underage marriage, and had seen a decreasing trend in this practice for Muslim girls by around 58 per cent over the past five years. Polygamous marriage was permissible in Islam; however, measures were put in place to safeguard the rights of women involved in polygamous marriages. Changes had been made to tighten polygamy rules over the years.
Concluding Remarks
NANCY SHUKRI, Minister of Women, Family and Community Development of Malaysia and head of the delegation, thanked the Committee for the dialogue which had been insightful. The Committee’s recommendations would serve as a roadmap for concrete measures to improve the State’s initiatives and strategies. The Committee was invited to visit Malaysia and witness the advancement of the rights of women in the country. Malaysia still faced challenges in implementing the Committee’s recommendations and was keen to find ways to improve on the work that had already been done. It was essential to recognise the correlation between gender discrimination in the context of human rights violations, particularly in conflict-affected regions. Malaysia remained deeply concerned about the crisis in Gaza and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
ANA PELÁEZ NARVÁEZ, Committee Chairperson, thanked the delegation for the constructive dialogue with the Committee, which helped it to better understand the situation of women and girls in Malaysia.
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