Human Rights Training Programme for Women in Bukit Tinggi

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation supported a human rights training programme of ERA Consumer for 40 young Malaysian women. University students and representatives of NGOs came together to discuss and explore women rights issues. The facilitators in this workshop were experts like Ms Ivy Josiah, Executive Director of the Women's Aid Organisation (WAO) and Ms Irene Xavier, President of Persatuan Sahabat Wanita (Friends of Women Association).

During the training, the participants discussed:

• Women rights in Malaysia,
• Human rights abuses, such as sexual harassment and domestic violence,
• the Domestic Violence Act and ways of overcoing domestic Violence,
• the Interim Protection Act as another tool to protect women from domestic violence,
• Malaysian women's organisations which deal with the problem of domestic violence,
• the Malasian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) and its functions.

At the end of the programme the participants practiced writing police reports.

Violence against women is about power and control.

• Violence against women is a chosen action against a woman or girl child simply because of her gender, simply because she is female.
• Violence against women cuts across race, religion, income, class and culture.
• Violence Against Women is deeply embedded in all cultures, so much so that millions of women consider it a way of life.

Forms of Violence Against Women include

• Psychological and emotional abuse
• Social abuse
• Financial abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Physical abuse

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