Women's groups welcome landmark ruling

The Sun (Used by permission)
by Alyaa Alhadjri

PETALING JAYA (July 13, 2011):The obvious is now a law. Women have a right to work even when they are pregnant, said the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality in response to a landmark ruling by the Shah Alam High Court yesterday.

Judge Datuk Zaleha Yusof had yesterday decided in favour of Noorfadilla Ahmad Saikin when she upheld that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has the force of law and is binding on the Malaysian Government and Article 8(2) of the FC must be read to comply with it.

Noorfadilla had in 2009 accepted an offer to be a temporary teacher in a government school but the officer in charge later retracted the offer when it was discovered that she was three months pregnant.

Noorfadilla then filed an application in court for damages, interest and costs, on the basis that the revocation of offer due to pregnancy is a form of gender discrimination.

"What constitutes as discrimination against women and gender discrimination has not been decided in Malaysia prior to Noorfadilla's case," said JAG in its yesterday's statement.

"The definitions of direct and indirect discrimination will be invaluable when women file cases of discrimination and equality in court," said JAG, a coalition of women's NGOs.

JAG comprised of the All Women’s Action Society (Awam), Perak Women for Women, Sabah Women Action Resource Group, Sisters In Islam (SIS), Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) and Women’s Centre For Change Penang.

Tenaganita executive director Irene Fernandez said the ruling will set a precedence towards upholding a person's basic rights to employment and for employers' to practise non-discrimination in the workplace.

"Particularly in Noorfadilla's case, her employer is the government of the day, so it should be made accountable for its decision to ratify CEDAW" Fernandez told theSun, today.

Meanwhile, National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Loke Yim Peng said she was aware of Noorfadilla's case and noted that it was not the first time such complaints had been brought up.

"NUTP had previously highlighted cases of teachers who were unable to sign up for training courses or accept offers for a teaching position because they were pregnant," said Loke.

Loke who is also the Cuepacs secretary general went on to call upon all employers to respect the government's decision to allow for a maximum of 90 days maternity leave.

"Particularly in the case of teachers and nurses, Cuepacs had received complaints that there were head of departments who will only approve 60 days of maternity leave for mothers, instead of 90 days," she claimed.

Loke added that a shortage of manpower should not be used as an excuse to deny a woman her right to apply for 90 days of maternity leave.