THE most logical and obvious solution to addressing pregnancies out of wedlock – sex education – still seems to escape our decision-makers and politicians, whose suggestions have not just become increasingly ridiculous but also highly punitive.

THE recent announcement by Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam that Muslim children in the state will be allowed to marry just boggles the mind. According to Ali Rustam, who is also Malacca Islamic Religious Council chairperson, allowing child marriages will help curb teenage pregnancy and baby dumping, and prevent pregnant teenagers from [...]

KUALA LUMPUR, 17 Sept 2009: The Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) has strongly denied any hidden agenda in calling for concrete action to be taken against the rape of Penan women and girls, as implied by Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. In a statement today, the WAO stressed that it was part of its responsibility as [...]

IVY Josiah is not the type of person to keep silent in the face of injustice. As the executive director of the Women’s Aid Organisation, she’s been at the forefront of the struggle to reform domestic violence laws and create shelters for battered women. Because of her outspokenness, Josiah is also often at the forefront [...]

IS PAS ready for non-threatening, open dialogue with dissenting voices within civil society? The recent resolution by PAS to investigate and possibly ban the women’s rights group Sisters in Islam (SIS) suggests that PAS needs a reminder to react democratically to opposing views.  This is not an unfamiliar call that civil society and political parties [...]

“I want to bring women and family issues into the mainstream and I am not apologetic about them. I don’t see them as soft issues and I am proud to advocate them.” Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, campaigning for the Wanita Umno chiefdom before the party’s 59th general assembly. (Source: Shahrizat out to bring change, [...]