In the past, the significant contribution of women in sustaining the socio-economic well-being of their families has been neglected and taken for granted. This has resulted not only in gross underestimation of women's economic contribution but also in the underutilization of their tremendous economic potentials. In recent years, however, there has been considerable concern and awareness to acknowledge and stimulate women's economic contribution and participation in development. The United Nations Declaration of the International Decade of Women in 1975 has only served to enhance this concern and awareness as manifested by the profileration of research projects and studies on women's role in development. The central issue raised by the majority of these studies is the argument that stimulating women's economic participation does not merely imply integrating them into current development mainstream, but, more importantly, is the need to reorientate the male bias of the dominant development concepts and strategies (Loutfi, 1980; Nelson, 1979). Fundamental to this reorientation, therefore, is an indepth knowledge and understanding of the changing roles of women.
In a developing country like Malaysia, the concern for increasing women's economic participation can be seen within the wider general concern to alleviate the socio-economic conditions of the poor households especially those in the rural sector. Persistent poverty and deteriorating economic conditions have forced many women from poor rural households to work outside their homes and ventured into varied economic activities while at the same time continuing to perform their traditional household duties. It has been generally observed that women in many Malaysian rural households actually work for as long as 15 to 16 hours daily: carrying out household chores like cooking, washing and cleaning, bringing up children, working in the fields either as unpaid family labour or as waged seasonal workers during peak seasons, and engaging in other income-generating or income-substituting activities. To put it simply, the women's domain is no longer confined to their traditional gender roles as wives and mothers but also as waged workers and income earners to the families.
Despite these changing roles, however, women, particularly in the rural sector, still occupy lower socio-economic status compared to their male counterpart. Their freedom and chances of enjoying equal access to employment and educational opportunities are often hampered by religious, social and cultural constraints and not to mention the numerous household chores and responsibilities to which women are bound. It is also common knowledge that women's involvement in socio-political matters, particularly in decision-making and leadership roles, has been limited or even negligible. Furthermore, women in the rural communities in Malaysia have for so long been neglected in most development plannings and programmes. Few specific attempts have been made by the various government agencies like KEMAS, FELDA, RISDA, LPP, LKIM, etc. to integrate women into rural development plans. Experiences have shown, however, that in the past programmes aimed specifically at women in the rural sector tend to be too welfare-oriented while programmes to promote their genuine economic opportunities are either lacking or virtually absent. As a result, women in the rural sector are deprived of direct socio-economic benefits generated by the numerous government development projects.
While there is no evidence to suggest that the socio-economic status of women in the rural sector has improved over the last two decades, the same is not true for their counterparts in the modern urban sector. Rapid economic growth and industrialization in the 1970's have resulted in increased economic participation1 of women in the non-agricultural sector, thus invariably alleviating their socio-economic status. This has been enhanced by recent development policies emphasizing equal women's access to both educational and employment opportunities at all levels, the erosion of social barriers to female employment, and the change in attitude amongst women themselves with regards to their financial independence, personal satisfaction as well as having some control over their lives. In short, the rapid socio-economic development over the last two decades has played a critical role in alleviating the status of women in Malaysia, both socially and economically. Unfortunately, despite such impressive progress achieved by women in the modern sector, women in the rural sector have lagged behind, in terms of their social and economic advancements, compared to their counterparts in the modern urban sector.
In the context of the concerns and issues raised above, this study aims at examining the role and status of women in the rural sector of Malaysia from the perspective of their economic contribution and participation. In view of recent interest and concern to fully utilize the economic potentials of women and to integrate them into development role, this study also hopes to explore the main avenues of gainful employment for the rural women. The focus of this study is on women in the fisheries sector, especially those in the small-scale fishing communities. To the extent that this study is not based on micro-level studies or formal surveys, the views and opinions expressed here are therefore general in nature. Be that as it may, given the financial and time constraints of this study and in the absence of documented or published works in this area, the general picture presented here is no less valid than quantifiable data generated by micro-studies and formal surveys.
