An analysis of women political empowerment in Malaysia

Women are severely underrepresented in the political sphere across the globe despite the international efforts to increase their participation, primarily through the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and Beijing Platform of Action. Based on the data provided by the UN Women, there are only 24 percent of female representatives in the legislature, and only 18 percent hold ministerial positions. This data shows slow progress since the international conventions were adopted and ratified in 1979 and 1995. Malaysia is lagging behind its gender empowerment policies despite a dedicated ministry focusing on women affairs, namely the Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development, established in 2001. The Global Gap Index 2020 ranked Malaysia 104th out of 153 countries, which further slips from the 70th out of 144 countries in 2017. The Gender Gap Index measures four categories: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. In the domain of political empowerment, Malaysia is ranked at 117 out of 153 countries in 2020 compared to 90 out of 114 countries in 2006. Despite the high scores in educational attainment and health and survival, it does not translate well into political empowerment and economic participation and opportunity for Malaysian women. The gap between all the domains must be further studied, and the slow progress made in the Malaysian political scene to be more inclusive for women need to be further analyzed