Concern over effective implementation of Domestic Violence Act

The Star
by REGINA LEE

PETALING JAYA: Women's groups say that much more has to be done before the Domestic Violence Act approved by Parliament recently can be effectively implemented.

They believe that related laws such as the Evidence Act and the Criminal Procedure and Penal Codes have to be amended to accommodate the numerous changes.

The groups are especially concerned with enforcing the amendments that include psychological abuse that can result in emotional injury as a form of domestic violence.

While welcoming the much awaited changes, they also express worry over the attitude of frontline agencies, including the police.

Association of Women Lawyers president Meera Samanther, who is also Women's Aid Organisation committee member and past president, wants to know who would be deemed qualified to determine whether psychological abuse has taken place.

“Do we need proper psychologists when this country doesn't have enough? Or will a normal medical officer do? And who pays for it (the assessment)?” she asked.

“Also, if we are to tender a report on psychological abuse in court, there should be correlating changes to the relevant Acts.”

Empower Malaysia executive director Maria Chin Abdullah said that all the legal amendments in the world would not make a difference if frontline personnel at police stations were not sympathetic and supportive.

She said her group was concerned about how sensitively the enforcement agency personnel would treat abused women.

“The supplements are overdue, but their effectiveness boils down to the government agency and how they interpret the law. Sometimes it's the police who don't understand the law and they will ask the abused wives to go back home.

“The police have to be more sensitive because time and time again we have had women complaining about their attitude,” she said.

All-Women Action Movement programme manager Betty Yeoh said Malaysian law did not recognise domestic partnerships between two unmarried individuals.

“There is an increasing number of couples who do everything as a married couple, although they do not have a marriage certificate.

“They do not get protection from the Domestic Violence Act,” she said.

The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry said counsellors and psychiatrists in government hospitals and clinics would determine whether psychological abuse had happened.

“Anything that can incite fear in the victim should be considered psychological abuse,” deputy minister Datuk Heng Seai Kie said.

The Domestic Violence Act was passed in 1994 and implemented in 1996 after tireless campaigning by women's groups, beginning in the 1980s.

The Act had not been amended until now despite several memorandums from the groups calling for it to be more encompassing to include marital rape and psychological abuse.

“It really took us a long time to have the Act in place. When it was implemented in 1996, there were still a lot of aspects that were left out,” Maria said.

Heng said the ministry had to wait for feedback from non-government agencies before sending a proposal to the Cabinet.

“The Cabinet rejected and accepted certain parts of the amendments, so we had to refer to the Attorney-General for advice,” she said.