Region 'lags behind on equality, rights'

In Malaysia, for example, among a population of 29 million, only some five people have dared to publicly reveal themselves as LGBT, said Thilaga Sulathireh, a researcher and LGBT activist. 

“Malaysia is a hostile country for lesbians, gays and transgenders,” said Sulathireh, adding that “gender-correction” camps for youths are run by the state.

“I can count the number of people who have ‘come out’ on the fingers of one hand.”

Gays and lesbians, said Sulathireh, are regarded as a threat to the family institution, and Malaysia maintains a law against sodomy which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years.

Sulathireh said commonly heard nationalistic and homophobic rhetoric has it that, “In the spirit of ‘one Malaysia’, we need to get rid of all the ‘homos’.

Another Malaysian activist, Rozana Isa, said there was a need to expand public space to engage in a discussion about Islam and gender issues. “There cannot be justice without equality,” she said.

The same forum, organised at Midas Resort Hotel in Bangkok by the Women Wellbeing Programme, Thai Health Promotion Fund and two other organisations, heard from Velentina Sagala, an Indonesian feminist and legal scholar who said that local regulations in parts of Indonesia restrict women from travelling at certain times of night, dictate their clothing, and impose a virginity test on girls entering junior high school.

“Feminism is still something scary” for the majority, said Sagala, adding that lesbians are often regarded by conservative Indonesians as “women who hate men”.

It was OK to talk about mainstream gender identity but the term ‘feminism’ was still controversial, she said. “Sometimes we have to use strategies as if we were a gender group rather than a feminist group.” 

The good news is that a gender equality bill is about to be considered by Indonesia’s parliament, though Islamist groups have opposed it, ascribing the idea to the “Western Devil”. 

In the Philippines, violence against Filipinas working abroad was a big issue not properly handled by the government, legal activist Alnie Foja said, adding that little or no financial or legal assistance was given by Philippines embassies in such cases.

The Catholic Church still opposed divorce, she said, thus ensuring that troubled married couples often remain in irreparable relationships, with wives often exposed to violence. While men were sanctioned to keep mistresses, if a woman committed adultery it could be used as grounds for divorce.

As for rape, said Foja, many women victims were often still blamed for the abuse that they suffered.

Chalidaporn Songsamphan, a leading Thai feminist, discussed the empowerment of sex workers in Thailand but added that legitimacy for the profession must come not just from the sex workers but also from men and women in other professions. She said Thai visitors to Pattaya, a hub of sex tourism, often verbally abused sex workers they met there for no particular reason. 

Sattara Hattirat, advocacy coordinator at leading LGBT group Anjaree, said that many LGBT activists had no one to rely on but themselves in their efforts to advance rights, while people such as lesbians had no telephone hotline, employment assistance, legal aid or elderly care specifically geared toward their needs.