ON Wednesday, The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) marked the International Day For The Elimination Of Violence Against Women, celebrated globally under the theme “Prevention”.
The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which is the first international instrument that explicitly addresses violence against women, states that “violence against women means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”.
Suhakam is of the view that despite numerous developments and multi-stakeholder initiatives to address gender-based violence, violence against women remains common, and to a certain extent, tolerated in Malaysia.
Among others, cases of violence against women are not treated at all with the same gravity as other crimes, and this is worse in cases of spousal or intimate partner violence where the victims are often advised and encouraged by the authorities to resolve their domestic issues informally among themselves.
Suhakam is also concerned with the definition of “rape” in the Penal Code that does not fully reflect the realities of sexual abuse experienced by women, whether married or unmarried.
Suhakam strongly advises the government to remove the exception for spousal rape from the definition of rape, in line with the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, as rape (non-consensual sexual intercourse) being a violent and degrading act perpetrated by a spouse is no less repugnant than rape committed by a stranger.
Suhakam emphasises that the Asean Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the Elimination of Violence Against Children call on member states to take “necessary measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women” and “intensify efforts to develop and improve existing legislative, education and social measures and support services aimed at the prevention of violence against women”.
Accordingly, Suhakam calls on the government to lead the way in the region to address the issue of sexual violence in marriage by having clear laws.
Furthermore, Suhakam wishes to point out that Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals concerns gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Among its targets is the elimination of “all forms of violence against all women and girls in public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation”.
In recalling the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2014 where Malaysia was placed poorly at the 107th position out of 142 countries, Suhakam advises the government to build on its achievements on achieving gender equality in order to ensure that there is an end to discrimination against women and girls in Malaysia.
n DATUK DR KHAW LAKE TEE, Acting chairman, Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam)