Domestic violence is a criminal act, not merely a private family matter

I refer to the Malaysiakini press report yesterday on two cases of violence against women, one in Bukit Mertajam area and one in Seremban. (http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/238271).

According to the said report, the brother of one of the victims allegedly said that although a police report was lodged, “the police refused to act because there were no visible injuries and this was deemed a domestic dispute.”

This is sadly the experience for many victims of domestic violence. Police officers, admittedly sometimes out of good intention, look lightly upon reports made because they are “merely domestic quarrels”. Often, the victims are also denied application for interim protection order (IPO). Recently, a victim of domestic violence in Bukit Mertajam, Lai Siew Fong succumbed to severe burn injuries after she was set on fire following a so-called “domestic quarrel”. Family members said that Lai has previously lodged numerous police reports for domestic violence and has even attempted to apply for IPO to no avail.

According to the reply by the Women, Family and Community Development Minister to my Parliamentary question in the last sitting, cases of domestic violence is on the increase since 2010.

Table 1: Cases of domestic violence from 2010-2012

In the past 10 years, from 2002 to 2012, the increase is about 27%.

What is really sad is of the total cases in the three years, only about 8.22% of the cases or 817 cases out of a total of 9938 cases are convicted.

This shows a serious deficiency with our system especially in dealing with cases of domestic violence. In the first place, victims usually had to suffer in silence because the relationship with their perpetrators. Often, the safety and suffering of the victims are set aside in order to prevent shaming the family. Once this is overcome and a victim finally lodged a police report, she is usually faced with insensitive or worse, judgemental officers who make the process of seeking protection and justice even harder.

In my Parliamentary speech last July, I urged the Women, Family and Community Development Minister to, among others, look into amending the Domestic Violence Act 1994 to especially streamline the application and enforcement for IPO. The police force has to be trained to deal with cases of crime against women, which often require extra sensitivity.

Finally, the society, government, and even the police have to realise that domestic violence is not merely a private matter. It is a criminal act, punishable by law, specifically the Domestic Violence Act 1994. Hence, cases of domestic violence should not be taken lightly by anyone.