This came after Pahang Pakatan Harapan (PH) Wanita chief Zuliana Mohamed claimed that many women in rural parts of the state were too dependent on their husbands.

Zuliana said this was especially prevalent in Felda settlements where men are often the main breadwinners.

Empower director Angela M Kuga Thas agreed with Zuliana, saying difficulty in understanding legal jargon was also to blame.

“When you talk about access to information, you are also talking about the right to information,” she told FMT.

“Empower has done a lot of work with Orang Asli women and we realise that the kind of legal language which tells you which rights are and aren’t protected is very difficult to understand.”

She said although the issue might be more prevalent in rural areas, this did not mean there were no problems in urban areas as well.

Angela said another matter that needed to be looked into was the lack of education.

She said there were several issues that hampered education for women.

“There’s still a lot of stigmatising going on in schools towards children, including Orang Asli children.

“We also know that there is a lot of bullying going on in many schools. There has been a lot of effort to combat this, including from the education ministry, but to what extent that’s a rights-based approach is still a question.”