KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — Although most of the victims of domestic violence have reportedly been women and children, adult male victims are also protected against the offence under the law in this country.
International Islamic University Malaysia law lecturer Assoc. Prof Khairil Azmin Mokhtar said any victim of domestic violence, whether male or female, had the right to be protected under the Domestic Violence Act 1994 (Act 521).
“If we look at the definition of a victim under this Act, it clearly does not differentiate the victim in terms of sex. In fact, Article 8 (1) of the Federal Constitution assures equality and states that ‘all persons are equal before the law and entitled to equal protection of the law.’
“And under Article 8 (2), ‘there shall be no discrimination against citizens regardless of religion, race, descent, place of birth or gender in any law. Hence, men also have the right to be protected against domestic violence,” he said.
Khairil Azmin was speaking as a guest of the Koresponden Bernama programme on the subject ‘Domestic Violence: Men’s Rights’, produced by Bernama TV.
However, he noted the very small number of men lodging reports on being victims of domestic violence.
For instance, based on statistics from the Selangor Social Welfare Department, out of the 254 cases of domestic violence reported in the state from January to September 2020, only 30 men lodged reports of being victims of the offence.
Khairil Azmin believes that the actual number was bigger than that reported to the authorities, but the victims remained silent for certain reasons including protecting their honour or their families due to the stigma of being victims of domestic violence.
“It could also be due to them being dependent on the wife or they still love their wife and hoping that she would change for the better,” he said.
Khairil Azmin advised male victims of domestic violence not to be afraid or ashamed to lodge a report by setting aside their ego or fear of being regarded as weak, and not blaming themselves as they might not be the cause of the violence.
— Bernama
