Women can be leaders, not just of a family but of a nation as well. We only have to look at India, Bangladesh and the Philippines to realise the potential that women have.

Women can sit on equal footing with men in decision making processes, although we have yet to see this happening on an extensive scale in Malaysia even with women's laudable achievements in medicine, teaching or astronomy, among other fields.

Much has been said about women being nothing but sex objects. Eroding this fallacy has become a major effort in itself, one which has been inherited by the feminist movements by virtue of their raison d'etre .

Media complicity

When it comes to shouldering responsibility for this state of affairs, the authorities have adopted a pass-the-buck approach.

The saddest point is that people choose not to acknowledge that the print and broadcast media perpetuates the portrayal of women as sex objects.

When sex sells, morality stops becoming an issue. Money becomes the focal point and greed itself knows no bounds. So the situation continues, with the media portraying women in 'fashionably' sleazy manner.

To put it bluntly, all this is done at the expense of creativity in the fields of fashion and marketing, mainly though advertisements that blatantly and disrespectfully 'prostitute' women

It admittedly takes two to tango, as some women have no compunction about allowing themselves to be exploited. Hence, the display of flesh in advertisements, the subject of which may hardly have a bearing on women consumers.

There should be guidelines to determine just how much 'sex' should make its way through advertisements, in place of the current nonchalant attitude towards this issue.

Take advertisements for beer, cars, shoes, perfume or discount sales - many of these cash in on women, using them as sex symbols to sell the product or message.

It is another matter entirely that such advertisements are totally preposterous to the point of insulting a woman's intelligence. Yet, these advertisements are everywhere - in cinemas, newspapers and magazines.

In 1999, the Consumers Association of Penang published 'Abuse of Women in the Media', which stated that women have been negatively portrayed in advertisements from as early as the 1980s. The situation has only deteriorated since then.

Gov't attitudes

The big picture is that women in Malaysia have yet to receive their place in society, despite occasional lip-service to their predicament.

(Current) Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was quoted a few months ago by the media as saying that the government does not want to force employers to set up day-care centres for children at or near workplaces for the benefit of the 3.5 million women in the workforce. Instead, employers should heed this call if they are concerned about their employees' welfare.

The number of women employed rose from 30.8 percent in 1957 to 45.7 percent in 2002. Yet, employers - the majority of whom are male - have only gone on to show just how little they are concerned about their workers' needs.

On another occasion, Abdullah said that government agencies, especially the police, should place women's safety higher on their agendas in light of the increase in violent crimes.

He said the private sector should also look into ways to enhance the safety of women employees, and gave his assurance that more will be done to enhance the welfare, safety and security of women.

That call has yet to be translated into action. It is perhaps a reflection of the tidak apa (couldn't care less) attitude on the part of those wielding power.

Perhaps the Terengganu Municipal Council thought it was out to do 'justice' in eradicating the image unceremoniously bestowed upon women, when it came up with its dress code.

This requires Muslim women working in business premises to wear the tudung ( headscarf), failing which employers are liable to a fine of RM250 under licensing regulations. Non-Muslim women are also required to dress 'decently' in compliance with community norms.

If the council feels that getting women to dress 'decently' or tutup aurat (to cover up) will reduce the number of rape incidents in Terengganu, it is belabouring under a grand delusion.

Rape is not about what a women wears, rather it is about what the perpetrator is trying to 'achieve' through this barbaric act.

Perhaps Puteri Umno chief Azalina Othman Said's recent suggestion to Terengganu Menteri Besar Abdul Hadi Awang that men be educated against viewing women as sex objects, might bring about a revelation of sorts.

Who knows what men might blurt out, during such a course, about why they view women as sex objects?

Azalina's point that sexual assault on women is not related to their dressing - as even Muslim women who wear the headscarf were raped - is a Catch-22 remark.

The way a woman dresses does have a bearing on how she is perceived by men, but is no justification that rape 'is in order' because of what she wears.

However, Azalina hit the nail on the head when she pointed out to Hadi that even children have been raped and molested.

Now, how will Hadi and the likes of him - who suddenly appear to be gender-sensitised - tackle this truth: that rape cuts across age? Children and grandmothers who were decently dressed having been among victims of rapists.

JJ RAY started her career with a mainstream publication. A non-conformist, she soon saw the barriers that went up whenever, through her writing, she tried to make the world a home for one and all.