KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — Abusive spouses could eventually be barred from their family homes as a way to prevent the victims from being forced into shelters, Hannah Yeoh told Parliament today.
The women, family and community development deputy minister said this was among proposals by the Women’s Aid Organisation for possible amendments to the Domestic Violence Act.
Yeoh said one suggestion was for interim or emergency protection orders to cover the entire family and not only the immediate victims of abuse.
“A more drastic proposal was to remove the abuser from the house. These proposals are being considered by the committee,” Yeoh replied to a supplementary question from Bera (BN) MP Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob during Question Time.
She told the Lower House that as of June, 340 abuse cases were reported to the Welfare Department, 316 of which involved women victims and the rest, men.
Selangor topped the list with 91 cases, followed by Pahang with 56 cases and Kedah at 34.
However, she also admitted that there were weakness edin the current system as the police recorded 3,139 domestic abuse cases in the same period or nearly 10 times the number reported to the Welfare Department.
Yeoh said this will also be examined by the joint Committee to Address Domestic Violence that involves agencies such as the Home Ministry, the police, Immigration Department, Welfare Department, JAKIM, Health Ministry, National Registration Department and NGOs such as the WAO.
