EDUCATION, awareness and the access to justice will prevent domestic abuse, not karate alone.
Wanita MCA has, once again, belittled and misinterpreted the gravity of domestic or gender-based violence as an issue that can easily be tackled with teaching women karate as a form of self-defence against an abusive partner.
Its head, Datuk Heng Seai Kie, in a speech at the MCA general assembly stated that it is important for women and children to take care of themselves by learning karate.
Media reports have stated that MCA will run a “karate defence and self-protect” training course from March 12 to 20.
Eight days of karate training to help women defend themselves against abusive partners? This statement is bizarre, comical and irresponsible. Self-defence cannot banish violence, and it appears that Wanita MCA has totally missed the mark.
For MCA’s information, as well as their partners in government and the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, domestic violence is not restricted to the conventional or traditional impression that it is solely about using physical force against one’s partner.
Domestic violence is defined as the use of intimidating, manipulative or coercive behaviour by one partner in an intimate relationship over another partner, for the purpose of gaining or maintaining power and control.
Domestic violence is habitual, repeated and random, and may take the form of physical abuse; psychological abuse via blackmail or threats; social abuse via harassment, stalking, and preventing or limiting a partner from any access of social communication or activity whether online or in person; sexual abuse, which includes marital rape; or financial abuse, where a partner controls the finances of the other, leaving the victim dependent on the aggressor.
A quick check on the websites of Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO), All Women’s Action Society (Awam), Women’s Centre for Change (WCC) and even United Nations Women state the same thing – domestic abuse is not exclusive to physical abuse alone.
Preventing domestic abuse must be a collective effort and involves the participation of the local community, places of worship, schools, higher learning institutions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), industry players, lawmakers, enforcement officers and government machinery, as well as a robust judiciary system in place.
Karate is not going to prevent any form of violence from taking place at home.
Heng should enrol in a crash course with local women NGOs – like WAO, Awam, WCC, Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia, Sisters In Islam or others – and, at the same time, empower herself and her party by following the action plans in place by state government agencies – such as the Penang Women’s Development Corporation, Pusat Wanita Berdaya in Selangor, and Power House Wanita Gemilang in Negeri Sembilan – on their unique roles as state players in protecting victims in abusive relationships.
Penang has recently set up a first-of-its-kind “First Support Point” under its Safe Family Policy to assist survivors of domestic abuse, and has given out appointment letters to state constituency offices and NGOs as a firm stand against such violence.
For decades, women NGOs have been advocating on increasing awareness and public education on what domestic violence is. Did Wanita MCA forget that men are also victims of such abuse?
Fighting back with full force to deter perpetrators might work on the streets if you become a victim of a robbery or snatch theft, but it will not enable an abusive partner to reform!
Marital rape is not a joke, and saying that “a wife may have earlier fought (with the husband) during the day, but at night, when they turn in to the bedroom, there usually is a happy ending” shows how disconnected and detached Heng is by belittling the plight of women who suffer at the hands of their abusive partners at any time of the day – in or out of the bedroom.
As a political party that is part of the government, Wanita MCA should call for Putrajaya to not rest on its laurels but instead push for reforms in tabling amendments to criminalise stalking, to empower and propel education and awareness programmes for school students up to enforcement officers on the latest developments on how we, as a nation, can push and fight against gender-based violence.
The judiciary must be strengthened and the government must function in line with international standards and best practices for greater protection for men and women in abusive relationships.
Karate is fun to watch on TV and exciting to learn as a form of self-defence, but Wanita MCA has totally missed the mark if it thinks that it will prevent domestic abuse. – The Vibes, March 6, 2021
Wanita DAP is the women wing of DAP, a multiracial, centre-left Malaysian political party advocating social democracy and secularism, social justice, progressivism and multiracialism
