GENDER INEQUALITY : GOVERNMENT IS IMPORTANT IN SOLVING THE GENDER INEQUALITY PROBLEM IN THE WORKPLACE.

Around the world, finding a job is much tougher for women than for men. The global

labour force participation rate for women is just 47%, which is 25% lower than for men(International Labour Organization,2017, December). In my humble opinion, I strongly agreethat government plays an important role in solving the gender inequality problem in theworkplace. There are a few reasons for this, namely, the authority has strong financial strengthand great power in law enforcement.

    Firstly, the government is vital in eradicating the gender inequality problem in the

workplace since the government has stronger financial strength than the private sector. Thegovernment appropriated RM1.2 billion to The Ministry of Women, Family and CommunityDevelopment to protect the welfare of women in Budget 2022 (Tengku Zafrul,2021, October).With that money, the government formed the Gender Focal Team and gave income taxexemptions to women to increase their participation of women in the job market. Also, variousagencies were established to spearhead the implementation of various policies to improve the status of women in the workplace. This ensures that  women’s voices can be heard and gender equality can be achieved in our society.

    Secondly, having great power in law enforcement is another factor why the government is imperative in handling the gender inequality issue in the workplace. Gender discrimination results in inequality. Government has the right to make strict and effective policies against harassment and workplace offences to avoid gender discrimination. With the power owned by the government, the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill(AGC) was successfully enforced in Malaysia and the offender will face up to RM250,000 compensation (Richard,2022, August 26). It can effectively reduce gender inequality in the workplace since everyone is afraid of this bill.

    Therefore, authority is significant in handling this issue.However, there are opposition sounds that the government is not fully reliable in solving the gender inequality problem in the workplace due to the high bribery rate in the government department. But this will not become a problem since there are monitoring eyes from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission(MACC). MACC has the right to investigate the use of government grants and the MACC is trustworthy since it does not make a distinction between private-sector bribery and bribery of public officials (Kherk&Chuah). Thus, the appropriation will be fully used in implementing gender equality policies instead being misused.

    To conclude, although not everyone supports the government, I still absolutely agree that government is pivotal in solving the issue of gender inequality in the workplace since the government has strong financial strength and great power in law enforcement. I believe that this issue can be stamped out forever with the all-out effort from the government.