WLP Malaysia Brings together Union Leaders and Women Activists

In April 2006, WLP Malaysia Women's Development Collective conducted a Leading to Choices leadership workshop integrating the themes of gender, democracy and leadership. Held in Kuala Lumpur, the workshop brought together 27 men and women from labor unions, NGOs and women's organizations to discuss these crosscutting themes and to develop a common vision for Malaysia's political future.

The majority of the labor unionists were new to the participatory leadership approach and to gender analysis. Many male participants found that the workshop challenged their views on gender relations, leading them to question their behavior towards female colleagues and family members. One unionist reported, "I was blind to women's problems in our country. But I'm willing to reopen my eyes, reassess the situation, and play my part to achieve gender equality." A few men decided to organize discussions within their unions on the role of gender relations in society.

Several female participants were able to view themselves as leaders for the first time after the workshop. One woman activist said, "I never thought of myself as a leader. I thought a leader must be experienced, knowledgeable, powerful, influential, and fierce. However, now I think everyone can be a leader in her own way. I'm now proud to call myself a feminist leader." Others were inspired to assert themselves within their own families. One woman participant revealed that her family had rejected her ambition to become a mechanical engineer, which they viewed as a man's profession. "I now feel ready to tell my father that women can be professional engineers too," she said.

Participants discussed the role of participatory leadership at the national level, sharing their views on democracy and the Malaysian political system, and deepening their understanding of their political environment. There was heated debate about the role of a centralized government in political decision-making versus the role of the people. Participants discussed the source of government authority and exchanged diverse views on Malaysia's political future.

Participants from unions and women's groups alike found this opportunity for deeper engagement rewarding. One female union representative proposed that her union work with women's groups in Malaysia to implement gender sensitization training in the workplace and a male unionist planned to join a group working to end violence against women. WDC agreed to carry out a training of trainers for participants from women's groups, enabling them to hold similar workshops bringing together unionists and women's activists, and to build on the success of this first collaboration.