KUALA LUMPUR – The Women, Family, and Community Development Ministry will expand the programme making mosques transit centres for victims of domestic violence.
Women, Family, and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun said the programme, now covering only the federal capital, would be expanded to Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Perlis, and Sarawak.
“The programme’s pilot project has been introduced at the al-Ghufran Mosque in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, and the Federal Territory Mosque in Kuala Lumpur.
“We have already talked to several menteris besar because mosques are under the jurisdiction of state governments and so far, we have received a good response,” she told reporters after launching the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the Aspirasi Skuad Waja 2021 ceremony at the Ampang Hilir Multipurpose Hall here today.
Rina said that through the programme, mosque committee members would be given social psychology guidance to ensure that they would be able to handle cases of domestic violence.
Based on police statistics, a total of 6,443 cases of domestic violence were reported from January to October this year compared to 4,217 cases in the same period last year, she said.
Rina said she was optimistic that the Waja Squad established under the Women Development Department would continue to be an agent of change in the community by detecting cases of violence against women throughout the country.
“As of yesterday, there are 100,202 Waja Squad members, exceeding the target of 100,000 members set.
“Of that number, a total of 93,295 of them are women and 6,907 are men. The involvement of these men proves that the struggle to address violence against women rests not only on the shoulders of women, but also men,” she said. – Bernama, November 25, 2021
