Asia and the Pacific

The proposed Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill introduced in the Lower House of Parliament has been termed as an anti-men legislation by a non-government organisation.

The All India Men's Welfare Association (AIMWA) said that proposed inquiry proceedings in the 2010 Bill were designed to deny justice to men, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.

In order to discuss the role and responsibilities of the government, political parties, media, lawyers and civil society in ensuring women’s right to vote in coming general elections, Aurat Foundation organised a focussed group discussion Wednesday.

Research conducted by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) found that local values impede women’s progression and participation in the country’s politics.

LIPI found that cultural barriers, founded on patriarchal values adhered to by traditional ethnic communities in the country had limited women at the local political level.

There is no doubt that much is being done politically to tackle gender inequality in Timor-Leste. The government is redressing the power imbalance with a quota system that sees more women in parliament than anywhere else in south-east Asia, though whether this has any impact on policy remains to be seen. And even at a village level, foreign and local NGOs are helping women set up their own advocacy groups to champion specific rights and needs.

New legislation supporting gender equality in the workplace has passed through the both houses of Federal Parliament.

The passage of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Bill 2012 was welcomed by Minister for the Status of Women, Julie Collins, as “another key reform to advance gender equality”.

“This legislation will go a long way to promoting the cultural change necessary to create true gender equality in our workplaces,” Collins said.

Malaysian lawmakers on Tuesday approved a ban on sexist remarks in parliament after a number of cases in which male MPs in the mostly Muslim country have drawn anger with their comments on the floor.

The amendment to the rules of conduct in the Dewan Rakyat, or lower house of parliament, bars lawmakers from making “a sexist remark”, opposition lawmaker Fong Po Kuan told AFP, with violators facing a reprimand or even suspension.

Democracy can legitimize itself in the true sense of the word and spirit only through equal political representation of women. It is highly ironic for us to brandish “our Gross National Happiness” or “our New-Found Democracy” and continue to exclude women that form the entire section of our population. Besides, it is not only an obligation of our democratic society to enable women to make their own representation in the political space – doing so is also beneficial to the whole country.

n next month's general election, politicians — nearly all of them men — will make promises on what they will do to fix the economic morass, but very few of them will mention the role of women in the workforce.

The country's problems are well known: more older people are living longer as the workforce that supports them gets smaller, resulting in rising welfare costs and a shrinking tax base.