KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 ― It may be for just for today but women politicians from Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) have closed ranks in a joint campaign against domestic violence that has been surging upwards since 2010.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri, Puteri Umno chief Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders Nurul Izzah Anwar from PKR, as well as Selangor assembly speaker Hannah Yeoh from the DAP, took part in the Women’s Aid Organisation’s (WAO) campaign #NoExcuseForAbuse on International Women’s Day today.
“It is crucial we learn to identify the signs of abuse that may escalate to dangerous levels if left alone,” WAO executive director Ivy Josiah said in a statement.
The women’s rights activist with WAO, which runs a shelter for abused women, said that domestic violence typically starts with verbal abuse, before escalating to physical assault like choking and hitting that may eventually cause injury or death.
“Early intervention can force a batterer to confront his behavior and choose to accept responsibility and adopt respectful behaviors towards the women in his life,” said Ivy.
WAO’s #NoExcuseForAbuse campaign features an installation art exhibition portraying the voices of domestic violence survivors that will be displayed at Publika from today to March 17, as well as at Hero Market at Sri Damansara and Kampung Baru, Puchong, from March 22 to March 31.
The women’s rights group urged Putrajaya last month to disclose statistics on deaths caused by domestic violence, pointing out that in the US, one-third of women who were reported as homicide victims were killed by their intimate partner.
According to Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim, more incidents of domestic violence have been reported since 2010.
In a parliamentary reply in October last year, Rohani said that 3,488 cases of violence and abuse were lodged in 2012, 315 more than in 2010.
