Media Statement by Chong Eng in Petaling Jaya on Tuesday, 24^th June 2008: 

Banning lipstick and high heeled shoes to reduce incidence of rape?

After being prohibited to wear transparent and loose clothing, Muslim women in Kota Bharu will soon face another ban on using bright lipstick or high heeled shoes to work. If the municipal council in Kota Bharu begins enforcing the directive where the penalty can run up to RM500 women will start wondering whether the only way we can "preserve our dignity" and maintain the "morals" of society is to wear hazmat coveralls to work.

The explanation given by the Kelantan government in justifying its various rules on dress codes is that they are necessary to reduce the incidence of rape. Sadly, this is not the correct way to solve the problem.

If this is the primary purpose for the implementation of a dress code, we need to first establish that "revealing" way of dress is a key feature of rape cases. It is not. Just yesterday, a newspaper reported that a girl was raped by a policeman, in exchange for the release of her boyfriend whose only "crime" was forgetting to bring along his driving license.

It is common sense to place the responsibility of a crime on the perpetrator – and not on the victim. If a car that is not locked is stolen, we blame the thief and not the owner of the car of leaving the door unlocked. We may not compliment the car owner's wisdom, but we certainly do not punish him or shift the blame to him. However, following Kota Bharu municipal council's line of thought, the owner of the house ought to have been smart enough to lock the door. It will even go further in this hypothetical case to require that all cars be locked, and all Mercedes Benz be concealed on the roads, so that thieves are not tempted to steal. If not, car owners may face a hefty fine. Just as how our society goes after the thief but not the car owner, it is the rapist that we should go after, not the women.

Rape can still occur in a situation where all women dress up in hazmat clothing but has no chance of occurring if men do not have the desire to rape or if all men are impaired from raping. Clearly, extremes are not the solution to the problem but it is obvious that the solution lies in punishing perpetrators of the crime and creating a safe environment for citizen such as brightening up streets and increasing the number of police tasked with battling crime.

Furthermore, such a rule ridicules men's ability to control themselves. Are men in Kota Bharu mindless animals who cannot tell themselves that rape is wrong. Is rape justified because attractive clothing unleashes the uncontrolled primal desires of men? If this is true, then deal with the mindless potential rapist in every man instead of convincing them that their actions are justified because they rape women who dress attractively.

Finally, there are simply more pressing issues to be addressed in dealing with this matter than simply what a women chooses to wear on her lips and feet to work.

---

* Chong Eng, DAP Wanita Chief and MP for Bukit Mertajam