International Women's Day observed in Malaysia

On the eve of International Women's Day, 80 women representing five women's groups in Malaysia, including Persatuan Sahabat Wanita, CAW's network member, marched from Petaling Jaya to Penang to attend the Women's Day celebration. The group had organized the visitation in order to strengthen its networking. During their meeting with some reporters before their departure to Penang, they demanded that the women's groups be consulted before any guideline on the prevention and handling of sexual harassment at the workplace is drawn up. They said that they have been handling several complaints and their input would help the Human Resource Ministry formulate a comprehensive set of guidelines. This demand by the women's group was in response to the announcement by the Human Resource Minister Datuk Lim Ah Lek that in a month time a code would be ready on guidelines about the establishment and implementation of in-house preventive and redress mechanisms for dealing with sexual harassment.