I refer to the latest High Court decision which reduced the award for Noorfadilla Ahmad Saikin’s pregnancy discrimination case by 90% from RM300,000 to RM30,000. (Source: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/to-prevent-profiteering-court-slashes-womans-gender-equality-case-award-by)
It must be noted that the court did not question the liability of the case but on the quantum of the award to the Noorfadilla. Thus, while I do not want to question the integrity of the judgement, I want to point out that the decision reveals a lack of gender sensitivity of our system.
Compensation must reflect the seriousness of the act to send right signal
According to a landmark decision by the Privy Council in AG of Trinidad and Tobago v Ramanoop:
“An award of compensation will go some distance towards vindicating the infringed constitutional right. How far it goes will depend on the circumstances, but in principle it may well not suffice. The fact that the right violated was a constitutional right adds an extra dimension to the wrong. An additional award, not necessarily of substantial size, may be needed to reflect the sense of public outrage, emphasise the importance of the constitutional right and the gravity of the breach, and deter further breaches.”
Therefore, the decision to reduce the award risked sending out a wrong signal; a slap in the hand for a serious action against the Constitution and gender equality – pregnancy discrimination.
Our society is plague with a serious problem of unfairness against women which leads to wretched treatment against women
I have long mentioned, unfairness against women stemmed from a culture which treats women as inferior to men, a situation where there is no gender equality, where women are thought off as only good to stay at home as unpaid caregiver, whose life decisions must be made by or in consultation with men, are deemed easily influenced, easily violated, defenseless, should be “tamed” but most despicable of all: OK to be bullied.
As such as a society, we are facing issue from discrimination against women in the marketplace and public life to violence against women, to the nauseating situation where one Malaysian woman becoming a victim of rape every 15 minutes.
And one of the biggest reasons for the unfairness against women in our society is the institutionalisation of gender discrimination in the government. From sexist jokes in Parliament to laws and practices of government institutions which disadvantage women.
The court should take this opportunity to educate
The court therefore should take this opportunity to impress upon our society the seriousness of achieving gender parity and gender mainstreaming, end gender discrimination and uphold women’s rights. The current situation of unfairness against women is grave enough to warrant a large quantum proportionate to the gravity of the problem.
Pregnancy is not just a private matter, but a matter of the human society. The government especially is beholden to ensure socio economic protection for pregnancy. As such it is totally unacceptable for the government of Malaysia to practice pregnancy discrimination. If ignorantia juris non excusat (ignorance of the law is no excuse), how much more those who are supposed to be the guardian of the law, the government of Malaysia.
Ban pregnancy discrimination
Finally, if the government is serious to achieve gender parity, it should remedy this situation by introducing a ban on pregnancy discrimination in employment, starting with the public service.