KUALA LUMPUR: There is an urgent need for reforms and recognition of women’s rights, especially for migrant workers and vulnerable communities, says Tenaganita.

Said immediate action is required to address systemic injustices against them.

The human rights NGO’s executive director Glorene Das(pic) said Malaysia’s economy and households rely heavily on the labour of migrant women, particularly in domestic work, manufacturing, and plantations, yet they remain invisible and unprotected.

“Women migrant workers in Malaysia, particularly those employed as domestic workers, continue to experience exploitation, violence, and severe rights violations due to the absence of legal protections and widespread discrimination.

“The lack of legal protection under Malaysia’s Employment Act 1955 leaves domestic workers unrecognised as workers, making them highly susceptible to wage theft, physical and sexual abuse, and forced labour.

“Without a formal legal framework to protect their rights, these women often find themselves trapped in exploitative conditions with no recourse for justice.

“Gender-based violence remains a harrowing reality for many of these women,” she said in her International Women’s Day 2025 statement on Saturday (March 8).

“Systematically excluded from social protection schemes, healthcare services, and maternity rights, many of these workers are denied even basic medical treatment.

“This forces them to endure long-term health complications, unable to seek help due to financial constraints and their precarious legal status,” she said.

Glorene added that many migrant women face debt bondage and recruitment exploitation.

“Unscrupulous recruitment agents impose exorbitant fees, forcing women into debt before they even begin their jobs.

“Migrant women workers in other sectors such as manufacturing, plantations, and services experience exploitative conditions, including long working hours in hazardous conditions.

Glorene said in palm oil plantations, both migrant and local women endure exposure to harmful pesticides, exhausting physical labour, and meagre wages.

“These women often work in hazardous conditions with limited healthcare access, substandard housing, and no protective equipment, despite their labour being instrumental to one of Malaysia’s most lucrative industries,” she said.

She said to prevent labour rights abuses from recruitment to employment, the government must strengthen bilateral agreements with labour-sending countries.

“Malaysia must extend comprehensive labour protections to all women workers, including those in plantations, factories, and services. This means enforcing fair wages and workplace safety measures,” she said.

Glorene added that it is crucial to end the criminalisation of undocumented migrant workers, who often find themselves undocumented due to fraudulent agents and non-compliant employers.

“Migrant women workers must have safe and equal access to healthcare, including maternity leave, reproductive healthcare, and treatment at public hospitals without discrimination or deportation fears,” she said.