{"id":6231,"date":"2019-03-10T08:13:42","date_gmt":"2019-03-10T00:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sistersinislam.org\/?p=6231"},"modified":"2019-11-21T13:51:25","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T05:51:25","slug":"uphold-democratic-space-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sistersinislam.org\/uphold-democratic-space-for-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Uphold Democratic Space for All"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Yesterday, more than a thousand people joined #WomensMarchMY, a peaceful rally organised by Malaysians in conjunction with International Women\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The rally\u2019s demands were: (1) end all violence based on gender and sexual orientation; (2) ban all child marriages; (3) ensure our rights and freedom to make choices over our own bodies and lives; (4) ensure dignified minimum wage of RM1,800; and (5) destroy patriarchy and build genuine democracy at all levels of society.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Following the rally, videos and images were circulated online showing rally-goers supporting the rights of LGBT persons. This led to backlash from various quarters, including Minister in the Prime Minister Department Mujahid Yusof Rawa who reportedly said it was an \u2018abuse of democratic space\u2019.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">We are disappointed with this backlash from the government and others from the ruling coalition \u2013 which puts into question the government\u2019s definition of \u201cdemocratic space\u201d, and its commitment to democracy itself.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Civil discourse is the essence of a democracy. In a democracy, every person (and groups of persons) must be able to peacefully express their interests \u2013 to have a say in policies affecting them. This is one reason democracies must guarantee constitutional rights of individuals (democracies are not just majoritarian), including the right to peaceful assembly and expression, and equality before the law.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">If we do not uphold the rights of certain group of persons \u2013 to the extent that individuals cannot peacefully express their interests \u2013 our credibility as a democracy is diminished. The government must guarantee \u201cdemocratic space\u201d for everyone. Not just for people the government \u2013 or even the majority \u2013 agrees with.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">This applies to persons with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions \u2013 who face discrimination, violence, and other challenges and atrocities. And it applies to survivors of gender-based violence, women with disabilities, indigenous women, working-class women, women demanding better healthcare \u2013 and all the other women who joined #WomensMarchMY.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The Minister also reportedly said \u201cit was up to the home ministry to take firm action against the organisers\u201d. It was also reported that \u201cpolice would call the rally organisers soon\u201d. We view this step with serious concern.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">We urge the government to stop harassing women human rights activists and peaceful protestors. Instead, we urge the government to reaffirm the rights of all Malaysians to peaceful assembly and expression, and to state how it plans to address the rally\u2019s five demands.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">We stand in solidarity with #WomensMarchMY organisers and participants, and with women around the world organising similar events.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Endorsed by the following JAG member organisations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">All Women\u2019s Action Society (AWAM)<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">Association of Women Lawyers (AWL)<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">Foreign Spouses Support Group (FSSG)<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">Justice For Sisters<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">Perak Women for Women (PWW)<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (EMPOWER)<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">Sabah Women\u2019s Action Resource Group (SAWO)<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">Sarawak Women for Women Society (SWWS)<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">Sisters in Islam (SIS)<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">Tenaganita<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">Women\u2019s Aid Organisation (WAO)<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">Women\u2019s Centre for Change (WCC)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday, more than a thousand people joined #WomensMarchMY, a peaceful rally organised by Malaysians in conjunction with International Women\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sistersinislam.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6231"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sistersinislam.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sistersinislam.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sistersinislam.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sistersinislam.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sistersinislam.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sistersinislam.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sistersinislam.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sistersinislam.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sistersinislam.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}