Much like the rest of the world, women and girls in Malaysia face the same problem when it comes to economic independence. As a general rule, an economically independent woman or girl will have the full enjoyment of her rights with regards to bodily autonomy and her Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR). Economic dependency will restrict her full realisation of those rights.
One of the prevalent issues on the discourse of SRHR and economic dependency, is Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SBGV).Because of their "subordinate" status in a patriarchal society, socially defined roles, expectations, and behaviours linked to conceptions about masculinity have made women the major victims of SGBV. SGBV against women can take many forms, including sexual harassment, rape, assault, and domestic violence.
To cite a few recent incidents and data, Sarawak has reported a total of 67 rape cases in the first half of 2021, a total of 120 rape cases was referred to a gynaecologist but only 3 went to trials, Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) reported a 360 percent increase in distress calls during the early period of Movement Control Order in 2020, a total of 2,287 cases of domestic violence and 1,263 cases of sexual abuse against women were reported according to Talian Kasih hotline in 2020.
Economically dependent women will have a hard time escaping the cycle of psychological abuse and violence in their household since they are dependent on the husband for livelihood. This is further reinforced due to stigma surrounding SGBV and fear of retribution from the perpetrators. Adding in to the equation, domestic violence is regarded as a private matter, resulting in inadequate protection for women and harder access to justice.
Discourses on the topic of GBV in the Muslim communities often revolves around the fact that it is permissible to beat a wife in Islam in the name of disciplining her. Men who resort to beating their wives would often justify their action by referring to Verse 34 of Surah An-Nisa. Although the same verse clearly instructs the husbands to firstly express his displeasure in another peaceful manner and by sleeping in a separate bed from hers.
While the Quran also emphasis on treating women with kindness, compassion, respect and disapproves ill-treatment of women, it is not necessarily reflected in practice by Muslim men. Patriarchal culture, social and gender norms as well as strict religious interpretation further reinforces one another and demotes women to be more susceptible to subordination to their male partners.
The encroachment of strict religious interpretation in Malaysia has seeped into the cultural aspect of life to the point that it is hard to remove them from the system. It is deeply ingrained and influences the attitudes and mindsets of Muslims to succumb into fundamentalist thinking and rising extremism. Women are one of the marginalised groups that are most affected by this. They are further demoted to the traditional roles in the kitchen, at homes and serving their male counterparts. Hence when the cycle of psychological and physical abuse happens, it is hard for them to break free.
When a woman is deprived of economic means, she is more dependent on income recipients, who are usually men. Her lack of means would prevent her from leaving an abusive relationship, which makes her susceptible to be a victim of domestic abuse and demonstrating that gender violence is also originated and perpetuated by the impoverished situation.
Having said all of the above, economic empowerment is desperately needed as one of the intervention to address SGBV cases in Malaysia. Efforts to scale up prevention efforts addressing the root cause of gender-based violence must not only address the dynamics of gender and religion, but also economic resources so women who suffer from SGBV will have better access to justice.
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