There are only a few more days left before the year 2020 ends. It is\nundeniable that 2020 has been eventful with many stories of joy and sorrow. Perhaps\nthe most noted event is that the year also brings an unprecedented challenge to\npublic health and well-being as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which eventually\nleads to disruption of lives and livelihood. According to the World Health\nOrganization (WHO), the pandemic has affected the socioeconomic sector where\ntens of millions of people are at risk of falling into extreme poverty. One\nsuch effect is the loss of jobs which puts stress on breadwinners. It has been reported\nthat in Malaysia, around 100,000 workers have lost their jobs since January. Loss\nof jobs and income does not only affect the ability of some families to buy food\nbut also present a challenge to preserve a peaceful family life. According to\npolice statistics, financial problems is cited as one of the three factors\ncontributing to domestic violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Violence within the family unit is not something new and it has existed\nsince the beginning of society itself. Since such an offence happens within the\nwalls of a home, it is usually considered as a \u201cprivate family matter\u201d. Thus, it is not surprising that the acts of brutality\nare kept under wraps and are often not detected or reported. Domestic violence\nis also a universal phenomenon and cuts across all race, religion, income\nstatus, class as well as cultural lines. \nIt is deeply embedded in cultures around the world, so much so that\nmillions of women consider it as a way of life, unfortunately. In other words, family violence is considered\nas part and parcel of marital life. \nWhile women in most cases are considerably more likely to experience\ndomestic violence but recent trend shows that men are also subjected to such\nkind of abuses, particularly from the psychological aspect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Malaysia, the issue of domestic violence has been traced since the\n1960s. However, most of the incidents were hardly reported to the authorities\nas they were considered as personal matters. As such, they became matters that\nwere expected to be resolved within the family itself. Domestic violence has now become a social\nproblem in the country regardless of race, ethnic and religion. The government\nhas taken a proactive action to enact the Domestic Violence Act 1994 (DVA\u2013Act\nNo. 521) by taking into account views of relevant agencies as well as\nnon-governmental organisations (NGO). This act was passed in early 1994 by the\nMalaysian Parliament to curb domestic violence through legal mechanism. The aim\nof the Act is to help victims of domestic violence. The act offers protection for\nbattered women from their abusers in the form of protective orders. It also provides for compensation and counselling\nto be made available for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The DVA 1994 was amended and gazetted on 9 February 2012 which saw the\ndefinition of domestic violence under Section 2 has been expanded to include\npsychological and emotional abuse apart from financial loss. Further amendments\nwere gazetted on 21 September 2017 which came into enforcement on 1 January\n2018. Suggestions have been put forth that\npsychological (emotional) and economic abuse must not only be included in the\nAct, it should also be explicitly defined together with explanations based on\ncultural backgrounds of a society. This is\nto address the actual and broader definitions of violence so that many savagery\ncases can be avoided and the impact be minimised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Violence against women deprives their right to actively partake and\ncontribute to social and economic life. It causes a myriad of physical and\nmental health issues and in some cases, even lead to loss of life. As for\nchildren who are exposed to violence at home, they are also more likely to become\nvictims of physical abuse. Children who\nwitness domestic violence or are victims of abuse themselves are at a serious\nrisk for long-term physical and mental health problems. This fact demonstrates\nthe grave danger to the stability of family institution and society. Hence, all\nparties must play their roles effectively especially in reporting incidents of\ndomestic violence. As for the abused wife,\nthey should know their rights that is to live free from violence and to seek for\nhelp. There are various mediums and\nguidelines provided by the government and NGOs to assist women and children who\nare targeted as violence victims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the coming new year, we hope that it will bring a new chapter which\nis more promising and positive to the family institution especially in\nMalaysia. We also hope that every member of the family be able to successfully\nhandle any unforeseen challenges. Otherwise, they must seek for third party\nassistance to preserve a harmonious and peaceful family life. Women deserve to\nbe treated with respect, love and care. The duty of men towards women is\nmentioned by the Quran, \u201cMen are the protectors\nand maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than\nthe other, and because they support them from their means<\/em>\u2026.\u201d (Surah\nal-Nisa\u2019<\/em> (4): 34) The advantage given to men is in the form of responsibility\nto provide protection, maintenance, education and guidance for women. This\nadvantage does not mean that there is an imbalance of power for men to oppress,\nhurt and abuse women. It is in line with the sayings of Prophet Muhammad SAW in\nhis last sermon that women have rights over their husbands and they are taken\nas wives only under Allah\u2019s trust. Indeed, every trust must be taken care of\nand preserved as these will be accounted for on the Day of Judgement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are only a few more days left before the year 2020 ends. It is undeniable that 2020 has been eventful with many stories of joy and sorrow. Perhaps the most noted event is that the year also brings an unprecedented challenge to public health and well-being as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-straits-times","category-139","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28371\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}