NTS Bulletin April 2015

Women in Southeast Asia: From Equality to Development

By Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS)
Singapore
2015 marks the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Conference on Women, held in Beijing in September 1995. While the world takes stock of how far we have come in terms of acknowledging women’s rights as human rights, and there have been many achievements in this, there still remain considerable gaps. 20 years ago the Beijing platform for action focused on 12 crucial areas where more work needed to be done including addressing inequalities in education, health, in employment opportunities, and in the sharing of political power and decision-making.

Women of ASEAN

In Southeast Asia, much has been done to promote and protect and rights of women through various mechanisms and institutions, not in the least by ASEAN itself. In addition to all 10 member states ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) has become a platform to engage in dialogue with civil society partners on issues and challenges of great concern in the region – violence against both women and children. In addition, the Southeast Asian Women’s Caucus on ASEAN, a network of organisations, engages ASEAN to advance the rights of women in the region as a means of ensuring their fundamental human rights. Membership covers all 10 member states and includes East Timor.

Through the implementation of new laws and policies and by revamping older ones, governments of the region have taken concrete, actionable steps to protect women and children against forms of violence such as sexual harassment, human trafficking and domestic violence. A recent survey by MasterCard on gender equality in Asia saw Singapore placed 4th among 16 Asia-Pacific nations. Other countries in the region, including Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand have also registered vast improvements from 2007 to 2015. Vietnam has even declared International Women’s Day a Public Holiday.

Still quite a way to go

Despite the acknowledgement of issues of inequality, and acting upon these through legislation, policies and programmes, ASEAN still has quite a way to go before gender-related discrimination can be abolished. Examples include Cambodia’s very low numbers of female parliamentarians due to the lack of suitable candidates, a fact that has its roots in low female literacy levels. The absence of effective representation that addresses specific gender-related issues, including food, health and economic securities of women, will have adverse effects on the country’s development. The US First Lady, Michelle Obama’s recent visit to the country was targeted at addressing the issue of female illiteracy. For those that have found a means of establishing financial security and freedom, misguided patriarchal values and political motives, disguised as issues of national dignity surface, throwing a wrench in their financial stability. Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s plans to stop sending women to work as maids will have negative effects not only on the families of these women but on the economy as well, considering how the remittance of funds from foreign domestic workers is quite substantial. According to an International Organisation for Migration study, remittances from Indonesian migrant workers (of which three-quarters are women) reached USD$6.6 billion in 2008 and this figure has steadily increased over the years, according to the World Bank, to more than USD$7 billion in 2012.

A more focused direction

The way for ASEAN countries to stay competitive and on track with their development goals is to promote gender equity. This is especially so for equality in education. It has been proven that increased female literacy has resulted in better maternal health, reduced malnutrition in children, and increased economic development, especially at local levels. Perhaps in this, newly developing member states can learn from the experiences of other member states that have provided equal opportunities in education, for example Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore. By promoting equal opportunities in education and encouraging parents to send their girls to school in an early fledging state, then Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, and his team created a skilled labour force that still stands as the backbone of the nation’s social cohesiveness and economic strength.

The shared vision of a people-oriented and socially responsible ASEAN community cannot come to fruition unless violations to half the region’s population are put to rights. Gender equity is not just about women and girls. It’s about us as human beings. It is about shared ideas of social justice. The empowerment of women in a way empowers all of us. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon put it succinctly when he stated this in his message for International Women’s Day this year “…when we unleash the power of women, we can secure a future for all”.