Women’s Aid Organisation: Speak up against gender discrimination at workplace

PETALING JAYA, Feb 23 — Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) today urged victims of sexual discrimination at their workplace to speak up and share their stories.

WAO recently teamed up with advertising agency Leo Burnett and together launched the “Invisible Women” campaign that aims to bring attention to the number of professional women being treated unfairly for their gender.

The campaign’s objective is to amplify the voices of women who have experienced being sidelined in their jobs for reasons such as pregnancy.

“A WAO survey revealed that 40 per cent of pregnant women experience discrimination at work. We now want to put stories to this statistic. To show the tangible impact of gender discrimination on women’s lives,” says WAO President, Carol Chin.

“We want a groundswell of women sharing their stories, to show how widespread gender discrimination is and why we need better laws. Currently, there is no law that specifically prohibits gender discrimination in the private sector.

Chin added that their end goal is to advocate for a Gender Equality Act which aims to protect women against gender discrimination.

“We need the public’s input and support to push for this act.

“When we share our stories, we also find that we’re not alone, we create a sense of solidarity. Think of this campaign as a #MeToo for gender discrimination,” said Chin.

“The ‘Invisible Women’ campaign illustrates how women often feel overlooked at work,” says Iska Hashim, Group Creative Director of Leo Burnett, the creative partner of the campaign.

Alongside Head of Design, James Seet, Hashim led a team of creatives who were excited to contribute to the cause.

“On one hand, society kind of expects women to have kids, but professionally, there isn’t always support for women who do so. Quite the opposite, sometimes,” said Leo Burnett copywriter Pia Dhaliwal.

“Women get asked at job interviews if they plan to have children, apart from that they’re sidelined at work if they get pregnant and they struggle to re-enter the job market if they take time off to raise kids,” said Leo Burnett art director Lee Shyyi. 

The victims are encouraged to share their stories, anonymously  ― through campaign microsite, invisiblewomen.com.my.

The campaign which is also supported by the British High Commision will culminate in an art exhibition, featuring women’s stories, on March 8-18, 2018 at the White Box Theatre, Publika.