Former Attorney General Dhiyana Saeed has said that women not being involved in policy making will negatively impact the wider community.

She said this at the Women & Democracy conference to unveil their Gender Equality Manifesto (GEM).

Dhiyana noted that women have been receiving accolades from universities and an increasing number of women are being involved in politics. However, while 55 percent of the civil service workface are women, men make up 80 percent of political spots.

“In 2005, a bill was proposed to hike the fee for domestic workers. Many supported the bill during the debate [because] it was revenue for the government. During the debate, MP Mazeena Jameel stood up and said that the fee would negatively impact female domestic workers. Such a perspective was absent during the debate until Mazeena said it. That’s why women should be present during policy making.”

She said that some people are still biased when its come to gender, and that the solution is to provide equal educational and career opportunities for women.