KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — DAP’s Syerleena Abdul Rashid has demanded the government take action against against the Federal Territories’ Islamic Authorities (Jawi) for its latest Friday prayers sermon blaming women with uncovered ‘aurat’ for social ills and instigating rape.

The DAP Wanita Bukit Bendera Political Education Director pointed out that Malaysia is a signatory of the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which binds the government to act against misogyny.

“Article 3 states how all ‘countries must take measures to uphold women’s equality in the political, social, economic and cultural field’ and because of this, the Malaysian government must act against those who perpetuate hateful anti-women sentiments,” she said in a statement.

Syerleena added that gross displays of misogyny were not part of Islamic values nor was it the beliefs upheld by the Prophet.

“…because Islam is about inclusion and equality; it is about treating others with respect and civility. Our values do not revolve around insults and definitely do not tolerate belligerence towards other human beings,” she said.

She further condemned the discrimination saying that it was regrettable that Malaysian society was showing signs of accepting such ideologies.

“As a Malaysian Muslim woman, I agree, that both men and women ought to dress in an appropriate manner but what made last Friday’s sermon astonishingly uncouth was the way this message was conveyed,” she said in a statement.

“Delivered to an all-male crowd, there was not a single mention about men’s obligation to also cover up and one cannot help but question the motives behind such sermons.”

In its sermon distributed to mosques under its jurisdiction yesterday, Jawi also compared uncovered women to uncovered dishes, which it said are bound to frequented by flies, making them unappetising.