KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 — The top three reasons why Muslims divorce in Malaysia in 2024 are communication breakdown, domestic violence, and the husband’s failure to provide financially, women’s rights advocacy group SIS Forum’s (Malaysia) latest report has said.

In SIS Forum’s report on its free legal clinic Telenisa’s findings about 188 clients last year, communication breakdown remains a leading cause for divorce, just like in previous years.

At the report’s launch last Tuesday, SIS Forum communications manager Ameena Siddiqi said a closer look at Telenisa’s statistics showed that such communication breakdown happened across the board, whether Muslim couples were in urban or rural areas, and regardless of their income and education levels.

“A lot of women reported lack of dialogue about finances, emotional needs not met,” she said, adding that unresolved conflicts between married couples also led to such communication breakdown and eventually divorces.

She suggested that pre-marital courses should include lessons on how to better communicate with each other.

In its report, SIS Forum said there is an urgent need for marital support programmes that teaches communication and financial management skills, as well as equip couples with tools to peacefully resolve conflicts without violence.