Women's Aid Organisation

I believe that women’s economic empowerment is a critical next step towards a gender-equal society in Malaysia that is free from violence and discrimination against women. Without this, women will continue to be economically disenfranchised compared to men, will continue to be held back and limited to stereotypical gender roles, and will continue to be more vulnerable to gender-based violence. I would use the Elevate Prize to resource WAO to take this advocacy further forward, to bring in the spotlight to this issue and harness all opportunities available to lead in driving sustainable change for women in Malaysia.

There are many factors that impact women’s economic participation, from education and skills training, to the unpaid care burden, to discriminatory gender norms that manifest in different ways, including in violence against women and workplace policies that disadvantage women.

The reality is, if we don’t take a proactive approach to socially and financially investing in these different areas, many of these factors are either going to stagnate or actively work against women. A prime example of this is the tremendous increase in the unpaid care burden since the start of the pandemic which has already forced many women out of the workforce.

I have always been motivated by the need to protect people in crisis. I worked with the UN’s Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in various roles. I established and managed refugee protection operations for UNHCR, my last duty station being Baghdad, Iraq. After working to protect refugees across the globe for most of my adult life, I decided to return to Malaysia. The opportunity to work for gender equality and ending violence against women by leading Women's Aid Organisation (WAO) was irresistible. I jumped at the chance to pursue a life-long dream to work for impact in my own country. Shifting from refugee protection expertise to gender equality was a surprisingly tough learning curve. I learnt that I had to reflect and do the inner work on myself, addressing and re-framing my own biases and self-limiting ideas. This had to happen along with developing fresh strategies, building and leading an enhanced WAO team to achieve impact for our goals. It’s been a wonderful journey so far and I feel we have indeed made impact, making Malaysia a better country for women and girls. 

WAO is Malaysia’s foremost provider of crisis support services. As change advocates for women, our path is determined by the end goal of guaranteeing gender equality and eliminating violence and discrimination against women and girls in Malaysia.

We have an “All of WAO” approach. Our work is synergized, rights-based, and aims for sustainability. We deliver standard-setting shelter and support services for women and children survivors of gender-based violence and discrimination. We strengthen the state’s response through lobbying for legislative and policy reforms. We monitor implementation of laws and build communities’ capacity to identify and respond to violence, reforming mindsets through tailored training, awareness programs, and media engagement.

Over 38 years, WAO has assisted women survivors of gender-based violence and discrimination. Survivors of domestic violence face further marginalization from society through discrimination in the workplace, and discrimination and harassment in the workplace can make women more financially dependent and more vulnerable to violence at home. The pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities of women in the home. Gender inequality breeds violence as it casts women as lesser than men, and less deserving of rights. WAO has a strong feminist voice, evidence-backed, to change Malaysia to a better country for women and girls. 

Much work is yet to be done to bring about gender equality in Malaysia. WAO is up to taking on this challenge by:

⇒ creatively and bravely lobbying for legal reforms around gender-based violence and discrimination so it’s more protective of survivors, and to improve the implementation of this framework by building the capacity of enforcement officers and communities to respond to violence and discrimination

⇒ collaborating with ALL stakeholders to accept the right of women and girls to live free from violence and discrimination—from policymakers, to police, to hospitals, to Members of Parliament, to welfare officers— while always keeping the voices of survivors at the forefront. This means finding synergies with elements that hold on to traditional mores and attitudes that disadvantage women and girls, and cleverly change mindsets

⇒ inspiring survivors, communities, and society at large with the vision of a life free from violence and in which every person is equal, the same inspiration which drives WAO.

⇒ innovating with accessible technologies that can connect survivors to the help they need quickly. We build the capacity of enforcement officers and communities to respond to survivors of violence, and succeed in changing attitudes and perceptions around gender-based violence.

The need for social justice is more critical during times of social and economic hardship as experienced in 2020. Our work and reach expanded tremendously, despite physical access restrictions. For instance, our WAO Hotline and crisis service saw an exponential increase.

Following WHO’s alert of a potential global pandemic in January 2020, WAO mobilized immediately to address the anticipated increased rates of violence against women during the pandemic period. We also needed to pivot towards virtual support, operating primarily through our Hotlines, virtual meets for counseling sessions and vigorous public information and outreach through our social media.

WAO was also approached by the Malaysian government to alert on the prevalence of domestic violence cases received through our Hotlines, and subsequently WAO was able to share critical information with the Malaysian Ministry of Health (MOH). Recognizing the effectiveness of our response, all domestic violence related calls received on their Hotline are now being diverted to the WAO Hotline. This is a tremendous development, as this means that WAO has been given the immense task and responsibility as the national focal point of responding to domestic violence calls throughout Malaysia during this pandemic.