Workplace policies matter, say speakers at inclusivity forum

Affirming workplace policies are important, said LGBTQ+ rights defender from Justice for Sisters Thilaga Sulathireh.

“Because a lot of times when there are no workplace policies, then people feel unprotected and the only justice that they have is to leave the job and find another.

“When you have the policies, then there is a redress mechanism within the workplace that you can access,” said the activist who was one of the speakers at an online forum on Malaysia’s progress towards being an inclusive nation.

Thilaga added that these policies should be comprehensive, intersectional and provides coverage to different identities.

The event involved four speakers who highlighted issues of inclusivity in their respective sectors: feminism, human rights and special needs.

Lasting for two hours, the small forum titled “Inclusivi-tea” was organised by Dia/Them: Taylor’s Inclusivity Project.

Further expanding on Thilaga’s point, Capacity Building Officer of the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) Yeap Si Xin said that organisations list down as many policies as they want, but implementation is still key.

“Make sure you have the right interpretation of those policies, send it across the organisation and implement it properly,” she said.

Yeap also explained why issues regarding workplace inclusivity are not brought up often enough, citing one of the reasons being that there is a lack of representation.

“For example, if there are only men in leadership roles and there’s no working mothers or pregnant mothers at that level, then a lot of women will look up and think that it’s impossible for them to reach there, or that their voice would not be valued,” she said.

This corresponds with data showing that only 18 per cent of the 43 highest positions in the government and 33 per cent of senior management positions in local private companies are filled by women.

Also present at the online forum was co-founder of Boleh Space Yana Karim and Indian activist Ramya who spoke about inclusivity in the education and healthcare sector.