Social enterprise NGO Engender Consultancy hoped the shelters will be able to provide safe accommodation “which is victim-centred and guided by trauma-informed and gender-responsive approaches in all areas of operations”.
“We hope this allocation covers shelters for trafficked victims, particularly in states like Sarawak which don’t have facilities for such victims. The shelters should be improved versions of current ones.
“They need to be modelled on guidelines and standards which have taken into account what we have learnt from the evaluation of current shelters in the country,” the NGO’s founder, Omna Sreeni-Ong, told FMT.
Ong said efforts must be taken to ensure these allocations are utilised properly.
Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) advocacy officer Kiran Kaur said while the organisation hoped to see these shelters fully benefit women and child survivors of violence, more could still be done.
“A sufficient allocation for safe spaces for women is essential to ensure Malaysia has adequate shelter space for survivors of violence. These shelters must have Covid-19 safety measures in place,” she said.
Kiran said there should be one shelter for every 10,000 people, compared with the current one shelter for 72,538 in the country.
“Malaysia needs to increase the number of shelters 7.3 times to a total of 314. According to data from 2019, we only have 43 shelters,” she said.
On the matter of period poverty, Ong said it was good that the government had recognised this as a key issue of concern and hoped the 130,000 hygiene kits to be provided contain awareness material as well.
“We need to understand that it is not merely the lack of access to menstrual products. We need to look at safe and hygienic facilities, water, waste management as well as education and raising awareness on the hygiene needs of girls and women.
“The government should engage with organisations currently working on this issue so that they can help raise awareness while distributing these kits.
“They should also gather data from the girls and those concerned to better understand the realities on the ground with regard to period poverty.”