KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 — In Malaysia, women have said the fear of not being believed was one reason why they did not tell the authorities about the physical and online sexual violence against them, a newly-released report on a nationwide study has found.

This study, which was commissioned by advocacy group SIS Forum (Malaysia) and financially supported by the European Union, had examined whether Malaysian women had bodily autonomy or the right to make decisions about their own body without coercion, discrimination and violence.

The bodily autonomy survey is the country’s first-ever nationally-representative study, as the profile of the female respondents matches Malaysia’s demographics for women, in terms of factors such as age, ethnicity, religion, location. 

This means the study was on both Muslim and non-Muslim women, with the respondents also of various ethnicities: Malay (62 per cent); Chinese (21 per cent); other Bumiputera (10 per cent) and Indian (four per cent). 

Out of the 1,004 women aged 18 to 65 surveyed, 43 per cent said they had experienced sexual violence, with the most common types including groping, unwanted sexual comments and online sexual harassment.

While women of all ages in the study experienced sexual violence, younger women reported facing higher levels of physical and online violations: unwanted sexual comments and gestures was highest for age group 18-24 (29 per cent); inappropriate touching was highest for age group 25-34 (30 per cent); and online sexual harassment were more common for both age groups (18-24 at 27 per cent, 25-34 at 26 per cent).

The most common places where these women experienced sexual violence were online (40 per cent), in public spaces (38 per cent), workplaces (21 per cent), homes (11 per cent), and educational institutions (7 per cent).

With the survey carried out in September and October 2025, 16 per cent or 94 of these women said these sexual harassment or violence took place in the past 12 months.

The study’s lead researcher Rusaslina Idrus, who was formerly a lecturer at Universiti Malaya’s (UM) Gender Studies Programme, said at the report’s launch: “So, experiencing violence is only one part of the story. Equally concerning is what happens afterwards.”

”Among women who experience sexual harassment or violence in the previous 12 months, only 36 per cent reported the incident to any authority. 

“When we asked why, the top three reasons our respondents gave were that they did not think that incident was serious enough; they fear that they would not be believed; and also the shame or stigma related to reporting about these instances,” she said.

Through interviews with these survey respondents, the study found that victim-blaming in public and online discussions contributed to feelings of shame and discouraged them from seeking help or reporting to the authorities.

Victim blaming is when attention is focused on women’s behaviour or appearances, instead of the actions of perpetrators.

As for online sexual violence, 41 per cent of the 1,004 women polled said they had experienced it, with the most common types being unwanted sexual messages or images, and cyberstalking.

Younger women experienced receiving unwanted sexual messages and images online more than other age groups: 18-24 (46 per cent), 25-34 (42 per cent), as compared to ages 35-44 (29 per cent), 45-54 (21 per cent), 55 and above (14 per cent).

For cyberstalking, 21 per cent or one in five women aged 25 to 34 experienced it, followed by the ages 18-24 (15 per cent), nine per cent each (35-44, 45-54) and five per cent for ages 55 and above.

In the study, only 25 per cent reported the online sexual violence they experienced to the authorities (such as the police, 87 per cent; social media platforms, 27 per cent; employers or educational institutions, 19 per cent), while 22 per cent did not report it.

The reasons why they did not report the online sexual violence were similar to those who did not report offline sexual violence: perception that the incidents were not serious enough (49 per cent), shame or stigma (41 per cent), fear of not being believed (40 per cent), lack of knowledge on reporting mechanisms (30 per cent), distrust in authorities (28 per cent), fear of retaliation (26 per cent).

What can Malaysia do?

The study’s 117-page report, “Bodily Autonomy in Malaysia: Perceptions and Experiences Across Women’s Life Stages (18-64+)”, listed recommended actions to break the cycle of gender-based violence through prevention, accountability and support, including:

-Establishing safe, accessible, anonymous reporting mechanisms for both offline and online gender-based violence;

-Implementing the teaching of prevention of physical and online gender-based violence at schools and workplaces;

-Strengthening the Tribunal for Anti-Sexual Harassment’s capacity;

-Provide training for those responding to gender-based violence (e.g. counsellors, welfare officers, police officers) to use survivor-centred approaches;

-Give adequate support for gender-based violence survivors (including psychosocial care, economic aid, safe shelter).

The study also recommended actions to strengthen legal frameworks, including to introduce laws on online sexual violence (such as cyberstalking, non-consensual sharing of intimate photos, and doxing).

Other findings

The survey also found out that 88 per cent of the 1,004 women agreed that schools in Malaysia should provide comprehensive sexuality education to students, which would also include bodily autonomy and rights.

The study found that most young Malaysians either had no or inadequate comprehensive sexuality education, and relied highly on sources such as the internet instead.

The study’s report recommended the implementation of a standardised, evidence-based comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) at all Malaysian schools, saying that it should cover bodily autonomy, consent, healthy relationships, reproductive health and also teach students to recognise abuse.

The report suggested that this curriculum be introduced at an age-appropriate level, starting from primary schools.

Among other things, it also suggested that teachers, counsellors and school administrators be given training on CSE content and delivery, with an emphasis on creating safe and non-judgmental learning environments, and also building capacity to recognise and respond to disclosures of abuse.