The Star
http://thestar.com.my
7 May 2008

A knee-jerk response, again
Musings By MARINA MAHATHIR

The world is too dangerous, therefore women should be kept at home to
be safe. Such logic smacks of a patriarchal attitude that is so
prevalent in our society; that women cannot fend for themselves and
need to be ‘protected’.

IN MY last column I wrote about the need to revamp entire political
structures to incorporate more women into decision-making structures.
There was absolutely no reaction whatsoever. It might have been too
shocking a suggestion, despite the fact that half of our population
are women.

The idea of putting women in true leadership positions, where they
lead all Malaysians, not just women, must have seemed too radical to
even contemplate.

This week we find ourselves with the very reason why this must happen.

In response to the recent spate of young women being caught overseas
for smuggling drugs, the Foreign Minister, along with the Home
Minister, intended to propose to the Cabinet that all women travelling
alone must get their families’ consent.

(The Foreign Minister subsequently clarified the proposal was only
meant for those below 21 years old. However, the Prime Minister has
shot the idea down. – Editor)

It is extremely revealing that neither minister saw fit to consult the
Women, Family and Community Development Minister on this issue.

Is this because they forgot there is such a minister? Do they view the
Women, Family and Community Development Ministry as some junior
inconsequential ministry that cannot make “important” decisions like
this? Small wonder women have not gotten very far at all.

This “brilliant” proposal requiring women travelling alone to get
consent before they do so brings up many questions.

Say this was, by the biggest stretch of the imagination, an
appropriate thing to do, how would anyone implement it? Would
Immigration officers be required to check that each young woman
travelling has a letter of consent?

With our new smart passports, we don’t even talk to any Immigration
officer. Will we now see women forced to forgo the machines and queue
up instead?

At heart it smacks of a patriarchal attitude that is so prevalent in
our society; that women cannot fend for themselves and need to be
“protected”. But that protection entails curbing women’s freedom for
“their own good”.

That was exactly the logic the Taliban used to keep women at home. The
world is just too dangerous. Therefore women should be kept at home to
be safe, even though this curbs their access to education, employment
and even healthcare.

It’s the same mentality that says that women should be told to cover
up so that they won’t get raped, or not carry handbags so that those
won’t be snatched. Or that books should be banned so that people don’t
get ideas that “may” be dangerous.

It’s a mentality that accepts that the world is a bad place and, worse
still, nothing can be done about it. Criminals roam free so people
must curb their own freedoms so that they would never get in the way
of these bad people. Men are inclined to rape, so women must never
provoke them.

Funnily enough, nobody suggests that for the protection of women, men
should be locked up since they make up the majority of rapists, bag
snatchers, thieves and murderers. This is a real indictment of the
police since we seem to accept that they are incapable of doing their
jobs.

This mentality pervades all levels of society in every way. We have so
little confidence in our own people that we imagine that at the
slightest opportunity, they will, in a very childlike way, become
influenced.

I attended a forum on the banning of books and heard one person say
that we should not allow certain books to be sold because our children
might read them.

I had to wonder whether he meant orphaned children with no parents or
any responsible adult to guide them or all children. Why do we forget
about our own responsibilities to teach our children the right values
so that they can judge for themselves?

Sometimes I think we don’t want to do the right thing because it is
too hard. Educating people to be more savvy about the people they
meet, to be more alert when they travel, to be more critical about
what they read are all the tools we need to protect our people,
including women and children.

But it’s not easy and it takes time before we see the results. Still,
that doesn’t mean we should not do it. Just because we still have car
accidents does not mean we should stop road safety campaigns; nor
should we ban cars.

Our officials can avoid these types of silly proposals if only they
thought of consulting people and getting realistic feedback.

They should consult a wide range of people and then weigh what should
be done. They should look at empirical data and see which groups of
people are particularly vulnerable. Then, and only then, should they
respond.

If an alarming number of women are being duped into criminal activity,
then we should be educating women about it with suggestions on how to
avoid this folly. Sensational stories in the newspapers alone won’t do
it.

*************From Uncle Yap**************
** Berita Malaysia - Free Malaysian News & Discussion Group **
Archives/manage subscription: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/beritamalaysia
Subscribe : Blank e-mail to: beritamalaysia-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: Blank e-mail to: beritamalaysia-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

** bmalaysia - Just The Malaysian News (Free of charge) **
Archives/manage subscription: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bmalaysia
Subscribe : Blank e-mail to: bmalaysia-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: Blank e-mail to: bmalaysia-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com