KUALA LUMPUR: The International Women’s Day march today in Kuala Lumpur today saw about 300 Malaysians come together to demand for women’s rights and gender equality.
The march, themed ‘End Violence, Respect Women!’ started at Sogo and ended near Dataran Merdeka. It was peaceful and without untoward incidents.
Participants stated their stand and made 7 demands which were:
● End all violence based on gender & sexual orientation
● Ban all child marriages
● Ensure our rights & freedoms to make choices over our own bodies and lives
● Equal pay for work of equal value
● Legislate the Gender Equality Act
● Declare climate crisis and formulate national plan to mitigate climate crisis
● Equal public and political participation
Thirteen inspiring and insightful speakers, including poets, took to the microphone to voice their concerns.
A representative of the Orang Asli Temiar tribe from Gua Musang, Kelantan, urged the government to recognise, respect and protect indigenous peoples’ rights. “We indigenous women have been struggling for our land and our culture, and even participating in blockages. We call upon the Malaysian government to recognise, respect and protect our rights,” she said.
The Temiar spokeswoman added that Orang Asli people defend their land not just for themselves but for all Malaysians, and to help stop climate change.
Participants were stunned when child rights advocate, Dr Hartini Zainudin, highlighted that 15,000 children, or about four children a day, have been married off in Malaysia since 2010. “Patriarchy has no respect for girls, and no respect for children,” she said.
Under the Peaceful Assembly Act, children below the age of 16 are not allowed to participate in marches. The organisers therefore read out a letter by a 14-year-old girl on her behalf, on her hopes for Malaysia to end child marriage.
A letter by a Rohingya refugee was also read at the march, calling on the Malaysian government to uphold the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to protect and support all women regardless of their status. Activist Rozana Isa, from Sisters in Islam reminded the participants, “As long as some of us are still oppressed, because they are women, or because they are different, none of us are free yet”.
