PETALING JAYA: A PAS deputy minister’s remarks that husbands can “gently” hit their wives as a method to reprimand them proceed to be slammed by the public and ladies’s teams.
They described as completely unacceptable what Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff opined in a video clip on Saturday, saying her misplaced recommendation would solely lead to a rise in home violence.
Sisters in Islam communications officer Aleza Othman mentioned it was deplorable for a deputy minister to make and share a video that helps girls being handled as subservient and inferior beings who deserve to be disciplined and corrected of their character and behavior.
She mentioned the recommendation on the video that husbands are allowed to strike their wives with a delicate but agency bodily contact is harmful and deceptive, including that this isn’t true in any respect.
“Violence is violence and there is no justification on how a husband should ‘educate’ or ‘reprimand’ a wife. Furthermore, the narrative that a husband is allowed to educate his wife by hitting her gently arguably opens the door to violence, especially since there has yet to be a wife who has complained that she has only been gently hit by her husband.
“In the last 30 years that women’s groups have been advocating to end domestic violence, the narrative that a husband is allowed to gently beat his wife is no longer accepted nor tolerated, even in most Muslim-majority countries,” she mentioned when contacted yesterday.
Siti Zailah, who’s the PAS central Muslimat council chief, mentioned in the two-minute video clip that husbands may bodily “touch” their wives in a “soft but firm” method as a method to reprimand them.
“It is the role of the husbands to educate their wives, and the same goes the other way round too. This is to apply a bit of pressure on her to show that he does not appreciate her behaviour.
“If she still refuses to change, or does things that go against Allah’s commands and is not disciplined, the husband can use a physical touch which is soft and seeks to educate. It is full of love, which is not painful, but shows firmness that the behaviour should be changed,” she mentioned on the clip.
In rejecting Siti Zailah’s recommendation, Aleza identified that home violence has remained as the most recorded cause for divorce since 2019.
“The video by Siti Zailah shows that she is clueless on the lived realities of women and how to address women and children’s issues, especially domestic violence. She seems to still be blind and unaccepting of women’s lived realities,” she added.
She mentioned the ministry in addition to the Perikatan Nasional authorities should realise that having a deputy minister of this calibre of considered girls and the way they deserve to be handled could be a “huge liability and burden” not just for them however all Malaysians.
Women’s Aid Organisation deputy govt director Yu Ren Chung mentioned Siti Zailah’s recommendation goes completely towards her ministry’s mandate and diminishes the efforts that ministry officers perform each day, which is to empower girls and finish home violence.
“Let’s be clear. Physically reprimanding your wife is not acceptable in any form. Wives are not subservient to husbands. Women are equal to men. What the deputy minister said has crossed the line. Following that, how can anyone have confidence in her to continue in her role?” he requested.
All Women’s Action Society (AWAM) mentioned the message despatched out by Siti Zailah perpetuated the concept that it’s all proper for a person to not solely police a lady’s behaviour but additionally to accomplish that utilizing violence.
“As the nation’s leading public institution entrusted with the role of upholding women’s rights and gender equality, any representative from the ministry should not be propagating such patriarchal messages about women’s inferiority to men and role as second-class citizens with lesser rights.
“Our women still face discrimination in the public and private spheres today, precisely because of these deep-rooted gender stereotypes regarding women’s roles and responsibilities in family and society that are still prevalent,” it mentioned.
