CHAPTER 1 C H A P T E R Law Reform and Treaties Division 1 1. CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (CEDAW) Following the Malaysia’s combined third to fifth Periodic Report to the CEDAW Committee on 1 September 2016, the Commission also submitted its Independent Report to the CEDAW Committee on 31March 2017. In relation to this report, the Commission was invited to attend the CEDAW Committee’s 69th Pre-Sessional Working Group for National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI).1 The pre-session was to provide a platform for NHRIs to highlight issues pertaining to CEDAW as implemented by the Member States. The issues raised at the session would form part of the list of issues and questions that the CEDAW Committee would prepare for the States Parties scheduled to be reviewed. The following were addressed in the Commission’s oral statement to the CEDAW Committee at the pre-session: i. The government should expedite the process of introducing a gender equality legislation and in doing so, ensures that the consultative process is inclusive; ii. An explicit provision on marital rape is needed within the current criminal legislation in Malaysia; iii. Training on sexual harassment should be made compulsory for employers and employees within both the private sector and government agencies; iv. The current legislation on domestic violence should be reviewed to provide legal protection to both married and non-married partners; v. The domestic law in Malaysia should be amended to raise the legal age of marriage to 18 years; 1 The CEDAW Committee’s 69th Pre-Sessional Working Group for National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI) was held on 24 July 2017. S U H A K A M A N N U A L R EPOR T 2017 15