Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Women’s Legal Aid Centre (PBGW) has helped 1,113 women with 1,462 different legal problems since its opening in 2018.
Sabah Women’s Affairs Department (Jhewa) Director Haslina Ismail said these numbers show how important the centre is for women who need legal help.
The centre handles Islamic law cases, regular court cases, protection orders, legal papers and many other legal matters.
“Besides helping with legal issues, Jhewa conducts programs to teach women about their rights, holds mobile clinics that travel to different areas and works with both government and private groups to help women,” she said at a programme about women’s legal rights, held to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women 2025, here.
“We work hard to reach women everywhere, in cities, villages and faraway places. More and more women are getting help and learning what their rights are,” she added.
Present were Head of State Tun Musa Aman and his wife, Toh Puan Faridah Tussin.
Haslina thanked Musa for starting the PBGW when he was Chief Minister, which made it easier to protect women’s legal rights.
She said that marking this international day is not just about remembering but also about taking action on human rights problem.
“Any kind of violence whether physical, sexual, emotional, mental, economic or online harassment goes against human rights. Our society cannot move forward when women are living in fear and dealing with trauma,” she said.
