SUHAKAM’s REPORT TO THE UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN limit a woman’s reproductive rights.17 In addition most employers in the private sector still retain the 60-day maternity leave for their female employees. Therefore, the Commission calls on the Government to reconsider the limit imposed on maximum number of days for maternity leave and to ensure that the 90-day maternity leave is extended to women working in the private sector. (iii) On another matter, the Commission applauds the positive move by the Government to amend the definition of “confinement” under section 2 of the Employment Act to mean parturition from at least twenty-two weeks of pregnancy in the issue of a child, instead of the previous twenty-eight weeks. The effect is to allow women employees to enjoy maternity leave and other benefits, if applicable, in the event of a premature birth or miscarriage.18 3.8.3 Women Participation In Work Force Recently, Malaysia was ranked at 100 out of 135 countries surveyed by the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap in its 2012 Report. The ranking may indicate gender inequality in Malaysia which includes women's involvement in the economic field. The following are the involvement of women in social development, judiciary, economic and political fields in Malaysia. (i) Distribution of Labour Force According to the 2011 data on female labour force,19 there were 9.57 million (68.2%) women of ages 15-64. Of this number, 4.98 million (52.1%) were outside of the labour force. There were 4.58 million (LFPR: 47.9%) in the labour force and out of this number 4.43 (96.7%) million were employed and only 0.15 million (3.3%) were unemployed. Only 14.7% were professionals, 8.7% were technicians and associate professionals, and a large number of the women in the workforce were service and sales workers, while 3.6% were managers. 17 A total of 300 days of maternity leave may limit the number of children a working mother may have. Part IX Maternity Protection, Employment Act 1955. 19 Quoted from Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Statistics on Women, Family and Community 2012, Malaysia. p. 23. 9 18