KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — It is unacceptable for the government to refuse to criminalise marital rape on grounds that it is a difficult crime to prove, Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah said today.
The independent lawmaker pointed out that rape itself is “notoriously” difficult to prove but it is still a criminal offence.
“Similarly, even if marital rape is difficult to prove, the law must acknowledge that such an onerous violation of dignity and consent happens even in a marriage,” Maria Chin said in a statement.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohamed Hanipa Maidin responded to Maria Chin’s question in Parliament today on marital rape and said the government would not criminalise sexual assault of one’s spouse because it was hard to secure convictions.
“Marital rape has to be penalised and it can be carried out with a simple amendment to delete the exception to Section 375 of the Penal Code that provides immunity to the husband,” Maria Chin said in response.
Section 375 of the Penal Code, which criminalises rape, contains an exception that says sexual intercourse between a man and his wife is not rape even without consent.
Section 375A only imposes a punishment of up to five years’ imprisonment if a man hurts his wife or causes fear of death or hurt to her in order to have sex, compared to sentences of up to 30 years that can be imposed in other rape cases.
Women’s rights group Women’s Aid Organisation, citing a 2014 Universiti Sains Malaysia study, said about 100,000 women in Malaysia have been raped by their husbands or other intimate partners.
