By Sharifah Batrisyia
GOMBAK, 23 October 2021: Changing the generational discrimination against female migrant workers and encouraging a positive public view towards them was the highlight of a recent workshop.
The Secretariat of Political Science (POSSA) collaborated with Project Liber8, Advoc8 On The Road (University Edition) for a Workshop on “Women Labour Migration” aimed at improving public attitudes towards the contribution of women migrant workers in Malaysia.
In Malaysia, women migrant workers often experience discrimination and incivility from the public and every so often from their own employers due to where they come from and the type of job they are doing.
Women migrants who made up a significant proportion of the front-liners during current COVID-19 pandemic, such as health cleaning and social care, are severely impacted in a gendered labour economy.
They are also facing increased hate of xenophobia and in constant fear of being arrested, detained and deported as the Ministry of Home Affairs’ continuous pursuit of undocumented immigrants on national security reason.
“Sometimes, we do not realise the way we have treated them due to the normalisation of treating the immigrant workers badly since we were young.
As one of the younger generation, we are more open to change this ongoing discrimination and hopefully put a stop to it,” said Sofiya Imran, the workshop’s facilitator.
It is up to us to change this negative perception of the migrant workers by taking several simple steps, the workshop was told. First, stay informed on immigrant issues by keeping track of the news and other resources on them.
“Remember, the first step of changing to be a better person is by being informed,” she added,
“Secondly, be ready to educate your loved ones on discrimination faced by women migrant workers and teach them to respect migrant workers. Change begins at home. Educating our loved ones, that immigrant workers are just like us, can reduce the partisanship faced by them.”
And lastly, she called on the public to watch out for discriminatory behaviour, especially on female immigrant workers, and report or take actions against it. They are more prone to prejudice due to gender-based discrimination and sexism in a male-dominated society.
She said that some people take advantage of women workers because they know that women are more vulnerable compared to men. The power imbalance between an employee and employer further fuels the harassment of female immigrant workers.
“Women immigrant workers are no different from us and deserve the same respect that we have given to other human beings. There is no reason for us to discriminate as they also have a family and friends that they loved back at home, just like us here.”
This interactive workshop was supported by the Spotlight Initiative’s Safe and Fair Programme under a partnership with the European Union and the United Nations.***