In its case study report, titled “Perspectives on Domestic Violence” released today, the NGO said rape – whether or not it occurs in a marriage – is a crime under international standards.
But in Malaysia, Section 375 of the Penal Code, sexual intercourse without consent isn’t recognised as a crime when it takes place between married couples.
“Rape within marriage is recognised in the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw) Committee’s General Recommendation 19, which states ‘Within family relationships women of all ages are subjected to violence of all kinds, including battering, rape, [and] other forms of sexual assault’.”
The report noted that the United Nations Cedaw committee had asked Putrajaya to criminalise marital rape as far back as 2006.
“We urge the government to immediately amend the language of Section 375 of the Penal Code and stop implicitly sanctioning the practice of marital rape,” read the report.
In 2015, DAP launched a campaign to raise awareness and educate the public on rape. It pointed out that non-consensual sex between husband and wife was also rape.
Subsequently, amid calls for marital rape to be criminalised, then de facto law minister Nancy Shukri announced that the government wouldn’t amend Section 375 to categorise non-consensual sex between husband and wife as rape.
However, she said that the act of a husband causing hurt to his wife with the purpose of soliciting sex was already an offence under Section 375A of the Penal Code. The offence carries a jail term of up to five years.
The report also called on the government to broaden the definition of domestic violence in Section 2 of the Domestic Violence Act (DVA), to include abuse between intimate partners who may not be married.
“Of the 110 domestic violence survivors who sought shelter with WAO in 2014, five women were abused by their boyfriends. About the same number or more were abused by a parent, sibling, or other family member in relationships which are covered by the DVA.”
WAO also urged the government to make amendments to the Immigration Act as current laws made foreign wives of Malaysian citizens vulnerable to domestic violence and creates “additional barriers” for them to escape abusive situations.
These laws it said, included a foreign wife requiring her husband’s consent to renew their spousal visa, open bank accounts, or access credit cards.
Another recommendation put forth by WAO was for the National Registration Department (JPN) to allow domestic violence victims to apply for a divorce in any jurisdiction.
Presently, they are restricted to applying for a divorce in the jurisdiction where they last resided, which WAO says is usually where they lived with their abusive spouses.
“This means that, in order to attend the three mandatory JPN tribunals, a survivor is forced to return to the location where she last resided with her perpetrator, which may put her in serious danger and cause her to experience fear and trauma.”
Between January and October last year, some 4,000 domestic abuse cases were reported. These include incidences of physical abuse, rape and child abuse.