Gender equality icon Mary Shanti Dairiam still fighting the good fight

MALAYSIANSKINI | At 83 years old, one of the foremost women’s rights activists in Malaysia and the world Mary Shanthi Dairiam still shows no signs of slowing down.

Over the decades, the former teacher’s passion to eradicate gender inequality which started in the late 1970s after volunteering with the Federation of Family Planning Associations influenced so many men and women.

It was during this time that her journey as an activist truly began as it served as the beginning of her involvement with other women’s groups locally and internationally.

She founded the International Women's Rights Action Watch (IWRAW) Asia Pacific in 1993, and she was also involved in lobbying for the enactment of the Domestic Violence Act (which was eventually passed by Parliament in 1994) since the mid-1980s.

At the global level, she has served on several influential panels including...