Malaysiakini :: Letters
Malaysiakini :: Letters |
| Rape at all time high, gov't looks the other way Posted: 20 May 2011 02:44 AM PDT All Women's Action Society (Awam) notes with concern The Malay Mail's front page story yesterday on the alarming rate of sex crimes statistic saying that 10 women become victims of rape every day and that on average in every two-and-a-half-hours one woman gets raped, according to latest statistics released by Bukit Aman. However, we'd like to add that while these police statistics are alarming, they don't convey the true scale of the crime. Applying the general rule of thumb that only one in 10 cases of rape is reported, the more accurate picture is approximately one rape happenning every 15 minutes in this country. This means that each year in Malaysia, the number of victims are enough to fill Bukit Jalil stadium to capacity. If we include other sexual crimes such as incest and harassment, experienced not just by women alone but also the transgendered and people of all ages, the numbers would easily double. According to the 2010 Malaysia Millennium Development Goals report, Malaysia ranks among the highest in the world for reported cases of rape. Sexual violence has reached epidemic levels in this country. It is a widespread social, development and public health issue that needs to be radically addressed and dealt with. Prior to this report, these statistics were classified as 'sulit' and withheld by the police, suggesting a sweep-under-the carpet mentality which betrays a resistance to openly and seriously tackling this issue. Similarly, our government's ambitious Government Transformation Programme and National Key Result Area to reduce crime makes no mention of reducing sexual crimes, betraying perhaps a disconnect with the reality of that sexual violence is huge dimension of crime in Malaysia. The pitifully low rate of prosecution of 162 rapes in 2009 also suggests that our court system is also failing. Meanwhile, the Women's Ministry is virtually silent on tackling issues of sexual violence. Rape is a crime that is seemingly committed with impunity, where perpetrators escape the law and get off scot free. We need a national strategy to deal with sexual crimes, which includes the involvement of all agencies such as service providers, the judiciary, the police, and medical staff. Prevention strategies which promote education, awareness of gender equality and securing women's rights are long-term enabling environment for reducing this crime. We need to approach this epidemic with the guts, the will and the resources to truly eradicate sexual crimes. Ho Yock Lin is acting president of All Women's Action Society. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Umno, where have all the good men gone? Posted: 20 May 2011 12:31 AM PDT Without pandering into the state of the present day Umno, I really don't care if Umno wins or Pakatan wins but in fairness for all Malaysians, our elected representatives should ensure policies and governance implemented is able to ensure just and fair treatment for all Malaysian irrespective of their origin. We had fair and wise leaders in Umno's yesteryears like Onn Jaafar, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Ismail Abdul Rahman, Abdul Razak and Hussain Onn, yet what we face with the current bred of Umno leaders is a neocolonialism of non-Muslim Malaysians courtesy of Dr Mahathir. They were leaders who took risks to effect the desired change, no matter how great the challenges at that time in fairness without playing the racial political game that we observe with the current Umno breed. As for the Pakatan faction who seems to enjoy their limited power seems all divided as preference is again their game plan to emulate Umno. A very resounding statement by Ismail: "Why did we fight for Merdeka? So that the different races can be divided? That can't be the way, right? That can't be why all these great Malay and Umno leaders fought for this ... Something is wrong..." I hope the new discussions will start. Why are we building Malaysia? What kind of Malaysia are we building? What kind of symbol is Malaysia supposed to be? The power and money politics initiated by Dr Mahathir encouraging nepotism, bribery, corruption had totally paralysed the nation from its true objective of impartiality for the citizenry of the nation since 1980. Absolute domination and unbalanced policies in the socio-development against certain segments of the society has brought about the uprise of Hindraf, Orang Asli issues etc. Dr Mahathir had to swallow his own pride when his own mismanagement of the nation led him to lose a divisional seat in 2006. He probably realised at that juncture that nobody seems to be invincible when nepotism, bribery, corruption is at play and realised that he had imbibed a culture of selfish leaders within Umno who are focussed on their personal wealth and well being as oppose to the development of the nation. The recent uproar of Perkasa and Utusan Malaysia under the guidance of Dr Mahathir again is a dim reminder of the current mentality of Umno leaders who seem to observe silence with their toothless alliance, unlike the originators of Umno who ruled without fear or favour. I am sure we may find goodness in Umno leaders or any leader for the matter if fair play is in place, rather than one stroking farcical notion like what we have seen lately with Perkasa and Utusan Malaysia. We have seen this in the pre-Mahathir Umno leaders and I see no reason why the current crop of Umno leaders cannot emulate their predecessors. Umno or Pakatan, it does not really matter as long as the elective legislators play their role in fairness without their typical melodrama and self interest but addressing the issues in hand for the betterment of the nation as a whole for all. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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