I think it is timely that people, especially men, speak out against the ill-treatment of women and work in solidarity with women to give them their overdue equal rights. But talk is cheap. We need positive action. It will be a better world when women stand equal with men, as a wife stands alongside her husband, not above or below him.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is right in criticising the shoddy treatment women receive in some Islamic countries. The fact some Muslims act on certain teachings in the Koran that result in the unfair treatment of women is something of great concern to us all.

The ignorant tend to treat women as chattel, who have no rights. This leads to heinous practises such as the 'honour killings' in the Middle East, the 'dowry murders' in India or female infanticide in certain countries that take inordinate pride in boys. Women are the perpetual victims.

Throughout history, till today, women are shortchanged. Until we realise this great wrong against them, there will be no justice. The question I ask is what makes men think they are superior?

As a son, brother, husband and father, I see no basis for the notion that man is superior and that he deserves preferred treatment. When I have seen how my late mother, my wife, my daughters, my female staff, my female friends and neighbours even my maid do (or did) things that I - the so-called superior male - can't or won't do, it is a humbling realisation of how unjust male-dominated societies are and how chauvinistic I, as a man, can be.

Men can't talk about freedom if they have already enslaved women in their minds then act it out in society and at home. I shudder when I hear anecdotes of husbands whose wives work full time and are still expected to play the housewife's role (which really is all about doing menial chores) while the husband plays golf.

No wonder - and I am not suggesting it is the sole reason - so many marriages end in divorce. Negative and stereotypical attitudes towards women ought to change and urgently so.

I don't think of women as inferior. I believe they should be paid equally for doing the same job men do. It is high time males emancipate women from their hurtful dominance and give them a fair go, especially in Asian and developing societies, and more so in societies that use religion or ideology to oppress women.

Males are different from women in various ways and always will be. And some women will always be superior to men in their abilities and achievements just as men, in general, will always be stronger and bigger. But it is erroneous to think that women are inferior.

We complement each other and have an equal share in our existence. We are indispensable to each other's survival. Where wages are concerned, it should be a 'fair wage for a fair job done' and gender should have nothing to do with it.

I can't imagine a world without women, and I can't accept that we ought to continue in cheating women out of their equal rights. But words won't suffice and men should stand alongside women in seeking their equal rights - now.

For a start, men should change their attitude toward their wives, girlfriends, daughters and maids. Don't talk down to them. Treat them with due respect. Employers, pay your female staff as well as you pay your male ones.

Fathers, don't spoil your sons, give due respect to your daughters. Governments, change the unjust laws against women.

Irene Fernandez is right in asking NAM to state its stand against trafficking in women. But trafficking in women is not all about prostitution although it is a significant factor. In some countries, women are still bought and sold like slaves destined for a life of forced non-sexual labour.

We should hear the cry of women for justice. They deserve justice now, not later.