The latest figures given by Deputy Home Minister Masir Anak Kujat on domestic violence in Parliament this morning is shocking and alarming.
First of all, the data shows that the cases of domestic violence are on the rise. According to previous answers provided, the cases of domestic violence in 2010 were 3173. However, by 2015, the total cases reported have increased to 5014. That was an increase of 58% in merely 6 years!
Not only that, the statistics given by the Deputy Home Minister also shows that the conviction rate for domestic violence is extremely low. Despite the increase in cases, the number of convictions secured in court is quite the contrary.
In the year 2014, 1462 cases were brought to court for prosecution, the number decreased slightly to 1440 in 2015.
Also, there were 358 convictions in 2014, but the number shrunk to 145 in 2015.
If we also take the numbers of conviction for January 2016 into consideration, the average conviction rate is merely 14.45%.
In contrast, there were 4730 cases brought to court under Child Act 2001 between 2011 to September 2015, and among which, 4021 or 85% of the cases were convicted. This is a sharp contrast with the conviction rate of domestic violence.
The low conviction rate will surely discourage the victims from lodging police report against the abusers, as it is highly likely that the abusers will be let off the hook without even being charged in court. The situation need to be improved urgently or this is tantamount to giving a free-license to the aggressors.