Preliminary Study on the Protection of Women’s Socio-Economic Rights in Malaysia

Abstract

Women have the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to food and the right to housing. However, when women find paid jobs, they struggle to find decent work that guarantees a fair income, safe working conditions and social protection. It is reported that women's labour force participation ratio (P) remained low compared to men, demonstrating that women earn less than males. Therefore, understanding the current Malaysian and International policy/framework is crucial in protecting women’s socio-economic rights. Hence, using qualitative methods of research that include content analysis, this paper would also analyse the challenges in the implementation of the current policy or framework in protecting women's socio-economic rights in Malaysia. The research finds that, there are several international conventions and treaties related to the socio-economic right of women applicable in Malaysia, however, the contributing factors, especially to married women, were family, children, and childcare arrangements are the main impediment to women entering the workforce. Therefore, it is suggested that the Government improve the effectiveness of the available mechanisms and frameworks for the effective support systems for working parents so that they can continuously boosting household income and the nation’s economy.