Proham on Section 375A of the Penal Code
does not go far enough to
criminalize rape in a marriage
Rape is a heinous crime against women. Appallingly, such a heinous crime is usually perpetrated
by a man known to the woman. It is thus even worse when the man is one, whom
she calls husband.
PROHAM recognises that there is no room for doubt that;
a husband neither has control nor ownership of his wife, equality in a marriage
should be the norm, and the law must uphold this right.
We are to some extent relieved
that Minister Nancy Shukri has pointed out there is protection of sorts to
wives under Section 375A of the Penal Code which states inter alia that a man
who during the subsistence of a valid marriage, caused hurt or fear of death,
or hurt to his wife in order to have sexual intercourse shall be punished.
However, we have learnt from the women’s groups dealing with rape survivors
that in reality women who are forced to have sex with their husband can be
coerced by emotional and psychological violence and not necessarily physical
violence. It is to be noted with concern that since the enactment of this
specific provision in 2007, not a single rape case has been investigated under
Section 375A.
PROHAM calls for
an amendment to the Penal Code to remove the exception that states that
sexual intercourse by a man with his wife is not rape. Marriage cannot act as
a defence to rape; it is time for Malaysia to uphold women’s equality
as guaranteed by Article 8 of the Federal Constitution and not fall back on a
mistruth that religion permits non - consensual sex in a marriage.
Issued on
behalf of Proham by Ms Ivy Josiah (Proham Exco member)
June 18, 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment