Crimes in USA

In USA, one of the most famous crime is gun crime, which involved the use of guns, ranging from handguns to even machine guns. Such weapons could be easily bought illegally from even hardware stores in chaotic neighborhoods. Gun crimes in the USA have doubled over the last six years and there are more people now using illegal firearms than before. In Alabama, which has a history of gun crimes, it has a murder rate of 70 per year, more than the whole of West Midlands put together. However, the Birmingham police has ever since developed a harsher way to deal with such crimes. For example, anyone caught selling drugs within a three metres radius of a school or housing estate is hit with a 5 year jail charge on top of any other charges if in possession of illegal firearm. Every since, it has reduced gun related crimes by half and has been successful in isolating criminals found in possession of any firearms.

Another crime, which could caused huge sums of money to be lost, is internet crime. Internet crimes are usually committed by hackers. Bank account information, credit card information all could be easily accessed by these hackers if the user is not careful when making online purchases. Also, professional hackers could also have the ability to get hold of state secrets and top-classified information. When such information are in the wrong hands, disasters like war may even happen. Huge sums of money would also be lost during the process. Another aspect of internet crime is obscenities. Explicit contents like child pornography could be easily accessed even though it is a crime for child pornography to be distributed in many countries today.

Other violent crime includes forcible rape, robbery, burglary, property crimes, motor vehicle theft and arson. Petty crimes like robbery have been exceptionally on the rise through the years. In New York, the state which has the highest crime rate in the USA, it could be seen that petty crimes have been rising at least by 50% as the years gone by, the state with the highest statistic for petty crime is Missouri, with over 10 000 of such crimes reported in 2008.

Crimes cause the lives of people to be affected in a way, making some feeling insecure about the environment they live in. Many live in fear that one day, they might be hurt by criminals who just want to get hands on their valuables and hurt them. In order to stop this, much still needs to be done by the state government to stop the increase in crimes in the USA.

By Clement Ong (10S25)

Crime and Punishment, Juvenile Crime getting better? (from 2001 to 2009)

The case of juvenile Crime has been increasing recently from 2002. In 2001 the number of criminal case is reported to be 29,077 however it sparked a 9.95% increase in 2002 to 31,971. Despite the jump, a police statement said the figures were the second lowest of the past 15 years. However, crimes related to robbery have showed the most significant increase of 62.1% in 2001.

However, the crime situation registered an improvement in 2007. Overall crime reported in 2007 fell from 33,263 to 32,796 cases when compared to 2006. Overall crime rate also fell from 756 to 715 per 100,000-population in 2007, which was the third-lowest in 20 years. Housebreaking and related crimes fell, from 1201 cases to 926 cases. In particular, the offence of housebreaking registered only 866 cases, which is the lowest in the last 20 years. Theft and related crime, which generally constitute more than half of overall crime each year, fell for the second year running from 20,301 to 19,556 cases in 2007. Which compared to 2001 has show significant improvement.

The number of arrests made by the Police increased from 19,639 to 20,107. For youth arrests, a total of 4,526 youths were arrested for crime in 2007, as compared to 4,280 in 2006. Five out of every ten youths arrested were involved in shop theft, other theft or rioting. Hence it rose to concerns of the police about the increase crime cases related to youth.

Overall crime recorded a marginal increase of 1% to 33,113 cases from 32,796 cases in 2007. The overall crime rate registered a notable decrease in 2008 – the second lowest for the past two decades. 2008 also saw the offence of housebreaking, which registered 836 cases, registering the lowest figure in the past two decades.

Violent Property Crimes, which are made up primarily of robbery cases, decreased to 962 cases in 2008 from 1,027 cases in 2007. This category refers to crimes which involve the taking of money or property by force or threat of force against the victim. Notably, there were 24 serial offenders arrested in 2008 compared to seven in 2007. The 24 serial offenders committed at least 75 robbery cases either alone or in groups at various premises type, including streets, void decks, lifts, taxis and convenience stores.

Housebreaking and Related Crimes fell to 898 cases in 2008 from 926 cases in 2007. Significantly, a total of 28 serial offenders were arrested in 2008, marking a 56% increase (or +10 persons) from the previous year. They were responsible for at least 211 cases of housebreaking.

Commercial Crimes, comprising mainly cheating and related offences, registered a drop to 3,488 cases in 2008 compared to the 3,565 cases in 2007.
Miscellaneous Crimes, which comprise various offences such as vandalism, trespassing and disorderly behavior, registered 3,454 cases in 2008, a decrease from 3,609 cases in 2007.

Crimes against Persons, which refers to crimes where the victim is an individual and suffers bodily harm as a result of the crime, increased in 2008, with 4,393 cases compared to 4,113 in 2007. The increase can be attributed to more cases of Criminal Force/Assault (increase of 169 cases), and Statutory Rape/Carnal Connection (increase of 94 cases). Notably, murder, which also falls under this category, also rose from 18 to 25 cases in 2008, all of which were isolated and unrelated.

However, it is significant to note that the two major offences of outrage of modesty and rioting, under the crime class of Crimes against Persons, fell by 103 and 15 cases respectively.
Theft and Related Crimes registered 19,918 cases in 2008, an increase from the 19,556 cases in 2007. The major sub-categories which saw increases were motor vehicle theft, theft of bicycles, theft of motor vehicle component parts, theft from motor vehicles, shop theft and theft in dwelling.

The overall crime situation in Singapore remains under control for 2009, with the number of overall crime cases decreasing by 0.4% as compared to the previous year. Four of the six crime classes1 recorded decreases in 2009 vis-à-vis last year, with significant decreases noted for Violent Property Crimes, a 22.1% decrease and Miscellaneous Crimes, an 11.3% decrease.


Crimes against Persons, which refers to crimes where the victim suffers bodily harm as a result of the crime, fell in 2009, with 4,370 cases compared to 4,393 in 2008. The decrease can be attributed mainly to a fall in the number of murder and rioting cases recorded in 2009 as compared to 2008, from 25 to 19 cases (or -24%) and 358 to 283 cases (or -20.9%) respectively.

Violent Property Crimes, which refers to crimes which involve the taking of money or property by force or threat of force, decreased to 749 cases in 2009 from 962 cases in 2008. The decrease can be attributed mainly to a fall in the number of robbery cases recorded in 2009 as compared to 2008, from 929 to 713 cases (or -23.3%).

Commercial Crimes, comprising mainly cheating and related offences, registered a drop to 3,357 cases in 2009 compared to the 3,488 cases in 2008. This is largely due to the successful efforts of the police in raising public awareness against the various types of cheating scams complemented by the support of various stakeholders such as banks and financial institutions in combating such scams.

Miscellaneous Crimes registered 3,064 cases in 2009, a decrease from 3,454 cases in 2008. Decreases were registered in various offences such as affray, disorderly behavior and trespassing.

Two of the six crime classes registered increases in 2009 compared to 2008. They are namely:

Housebreaking and Related Crimes increased to 1,026 cases in 2009 from a record low of 898 cases in 2008. The rise in cases is largely attributed to break-ins at HDB residential units, where many units were secured with poor quality locks that could be easily cut opened and at education/care centers, where some were not secured with security alarm systems. Nevertheless, a total of 25 serial offenders responsible for at least 261 cases of housebreaking were also arrested in 2009.

Theft and Related Crimes registered 20,402 cases in 2009, an increase from the 19,918 cases in 2008. The main sub-categories which saw increases within this Crime Class were bicycle theft, shop theft and theft in public areas.

The Police will continue to adopt a holistic view to keep crime under control. Apart from rigorous enforcement, community engagement remains an important component in the overall strategy to combat crime.

Police will also continue to enhance our investigative and law enforcement capabilities in our fight against crime. In addition to leveraging on technology and forensic evidence in crime solving, Police also works closely with other agencies to holistically tackle crime. This close collaboration contributed to the successful dragnet operation conducted in Geylang in January 2010, where 170 persons were arrested for various criminal offences. Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, Senior Assistant Commissioner Ng Boon Gay added, “We strive to constantly enhance our enforcement and investigative capabilities to suit the needs of the times. For example, the recently launched Casino Crime Investigation Branch (CCIB) will work closely with other existing specialist investigation units and the relevant police Land Divisions towards a crime free gaming environment when the casinos open their doors."

For maximum public outreach, Police will continue to explore new avenues such as leveraging on new media channels like online forums, the SPF Facebook, YouTube, and Razor TV ‘i-witness’ program.

Director of Public Affairs, Assistant Commissioner Ng Guat Ting said, “Singapore remains a safe place to live and work in but we need the community to continue to remain vigilant and to work with the Police to ensure the continued safety and security of Singapore.” (Tabulated crime data below)

Breakdown of Overall Crime in 2008/ 2009

--------------------------------------2008------2009------(-/+)--------%
OVERALL CRIME------------------33,113---32,968---(-145)----(-0.4)
Crimes Against Persons-------------4,393-----4,370----(-23)-----(-0.5)
Violent Property Crimes-------------962-------749-----(-213)----(-22.1)
Housebreaking and Related Crimes--898-----1,026----(128)-----(14.3)
Theft and Related Crimes-----------19,918----20,402---(484)-----(2.4)
Commercial Crimes-----------------3,488-----3,357-----(-131)----(-3.8)
Miscellaneous Crimes---------------3,454------3,064-----(-390)---(-11.3)

(sorry for the lousy tabulated data its suppose to be a table but this blog thingy cant draw it out....)

-Louis Gan (10s25)

Does Capital Punishment Deter Crime?

Advocates of capital punishment routinely argue that statistics prove that it deters crime. Opponents of capital punishment just as routinely argue that statistics prove that it does not.

I suppose a naive person might find this disagreement puzzling. Even if we cannot agree on moral questions, surely we could at least agree on basic facts. I mean, it would be understandable if an anti-capital punishment person said that, yes, it does deter crime, but it is still wrong because it is cruel and barbaric; or if a pro-capital punishment said, okay, it doesn't deter crime any more than life imprisonment or some other punishment, but it is still right because it is just. But can't we at least agree on the underlying facts?

But as I'm sure we're all aware these days, you can twist statistics to prove almost anything. Statisticians have developed many sophisticated techniques to carefully analyze data. People with a point to prove can abuse these techniques to distort the data.

But I'm a simple guy, so I decided to look at the simple statistics. Let's just look at the raw numbers: no clever analysis, no involved mathematical manipulation, just look at the numbers.

So, using statistics from the United States Department of Justice website, here's my graph number 1: The homicide rate for each year since 1950. The rate is given as the number of homicides for every million people.

Graph 1: Homicide Rate

A casual glance at this graph clearly shows that homicide rates increased sharply beginning about 1965 or 1966, they took a steep dive from 1980 to 1985, started back up again until 1991 - 1992, and now appear to be inching down.

Surely a reasonable, concerned person could ask if there is any apparent cause for the sudden sharp increase in the late 60's. And surely we could look with hope at the drop in the early 80's, and ask if there was not something that was happening then that we could reproduce.

So let's look at another graph. Graph number 2 shows the homicide rate, just as above, and on top of this I show the number of cases where capital punishment was imposed.

Note the interesting correlations. The number of executions plummeted from 47 in 1962 to 2 in 1967 to zero in 1968. The homicide rate, which had been holding steady around 50 throughout the 50's, started up in 1965, just two years after executions began their plummet. The biggest increase in one year came in 1967, the same year that the last person was executed.

So okay, maybe this was simply a coincidence. Capital punishment was reinstated a decade later. What happened then?

In 1976 the Supreme Court issued several decisions in which they basically backtracked and again allowed capital punishment. (They didn't quite say that they were changing their minds or admitting error, but rather that the flaws which they had discovered in the previous capital punishment laws had now been corrected.) The first person was actually executed in 1977. In the very year of these Supreme Court decisions, the homicide rate plummeted. But no more than two people were actually executed in any one year through 1982, and so perhaps criminals concluded that the danger of execution was remote, and the homicide rate crawled back up. Then the number of executions suddenly went up in 1983, and in that year the homicide rate showed its biggest one-year drop. With the sudden surge in executions in 1996, the homicide rate again fell.

Graph 2: Homicide Rate vs Executions

Indeed, just looking at this graph we can see that the homicide rate is almost the mirror image of the number of executions. Consistently when the number of executions goes down, the homicide rate goes up, and when the number of executions goes up, the homicide rate goes down. The only major exception to this is the fall in homicides in 1976, which came before executions re-started. But this is easily explainable by the fact that the court decisions allowing executions to resume came a year or two before executions actually did resume. Criminals may have been responding to press reports that capital punishment was once again going to take place, in advance of it actually happening.

I'm sure that opponents of capital punishment will say that my analysis here is too simplistic; that I have failed to take other factors into account; that this correlation between execution rates and homicide rates is pure coincidence, and that other factors explain why homicide rates went up and down at these times that had nothing to do with the number of executions.

To which I reply, Well, maybe, but I think you have an awfully hard sell. If there was just one point of correlation, it might be explained by coincidence. That is, if the homicide rate had gone up when capital punishment was abolished, but when capital punishment was re-instated the homicide rate had remained unchanged, or had gone up further, one might reasonably say that the first correlation was simply coincidence. But when we can clearly see that the two numbers mirror each other, consistently over a period of almost fifty years, attributing this to coincidence gets pretty hard to believe.

The obvious conclusion from looking at the statistics, without any fancy "analysis" or "factoring out of other factors", is that capital punishment does deter murder.

http://www.johansens.us/sane/law/capdeter.htm

No instance of woman being hanged in 20 years

If death sentence is imposed in the "rarest of rare cases", its execution is even rarer.

The last time anybody has been hanged in an Indian jail was in 2004, when Dhananjoy Chatterjee was executed in Kolkata for raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl. This was the first hanging since 1995, when Auto Shankar was executed in Chennai.

Though courts have imposed death penalty on women, most of those sentences have been commuted and there is no instance of any woman being hanged in at least the last two decades.

Sonia, who is on the death row in Ambala Central jail, may become the first woman to be hanged this century as she herself in February asked for her mercy petition to the President to be rejected.

Subsequently, the home ministry recommended to the President to reject Sonia's mercy petition. She and her husband Sanjeev had been awarded death sentence for killing eight persons, including her MLA father, for inheriting family property.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/No-instance-of-woman-being-hanged-in-20-years/articleshow/4865481.cms

Three Malaysians Jailed in Singapore for Child Trafficking

Three Malaysians were sentenced to between four and 15 months in prison for child trafficking after they were caught trying to smuggle Sri Lankan children to London via Paris, news reports said on Saturday. The Malaysians were caught at Changi Airport on February 7 with the three children, aged 11, 14 and 15.

Shangar Shanmugam, 39, was sentenced on Friday to 15 months in jail while his sister, Patmavthi Shanmugam, 31, was jailed for 10 months, The Straits Times reported. Their friend, Vigiletchimi Suparayan, 61, was sentenced to four months in prison.

Shangar was promised 1,000 US dollars by a woman known to him as Naga to deliver the children to London, the court heard. Naga made three Malaysian passports with false names for the children at a Malaysian immigration office.

Shangar gave a cut of the money to his sister and asked her to pose as the mother of one of the children, the report said. He drove into Singapore via the Woodlands Checkpoint with the two women and three children and went to the airport.
The three Malaysians could have been jailed for up to four years each for the offence.

Castrate sex offenders?

The Czech Republic has been strongly criticised by Europe's leading human rights body for continuing to surgically castrate male sex offenders.

The Council of Europe said castrations had sometimes been performed without warnings of side effects and on men not capable of making an informed decision.

Those requesting castration feared life in jail if they did not do so, it said.

The Czech government says 94 procedures have been performed in the past 10 years, all in accordance with its laws.

A further 300 Czech men have undergone chemical castration - involving the injection of drugs that suppress the production of male hormones - since 2000, according to government figures.

But the Council of Europe said Czech officials had provided "inexact information" on the numbers of those undergoing the procedures.

'Degrading treatment'

BBC Europe reporter Dominic Hughes says surgical castration - under which part of the testicles is removed - has been abandoned in many other countries because it is not clear whether it is effective in treating sex offenders.

Other countries, including Poland, Italy and France, seeking ways of dealing with violent sex offenders and paedophiles, have investigated using chemical castration methods.

But in the past decade the authorities in the Czech Republic have continued to carry out the surgical procedure, which the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture said amounted to "degrading treatment".

"Surgical castration is a mutilating, irreversible intervention and cannot be considered as a medical necessity in the context of the treatment of sex offenders," the committee said in a report.

"The intervention removes a person's ability to procreate and has serious physical and mental consequences."

"Moreover, given the context in which the intervention is offered, it is questionable whether consent to the option of surgical castration will always be truly free and informed," it added.

The committee said that its members found during a visit to two Czech psychiatric hospitals and two prisons in March and April 2008 that "a situation can easily arise whereby patients or prisoners acquiesce rather than consent, believing that it is the only available option to them to avoid indefinite confinement."

The Czech government, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, has largely rejected the report, arguing that its procedures conform to its own laws.

http://www.radio.cz/en/article/113807

First woman to be caned?

A Muslim model who is to be caned by Malaysian authorities after being caught drinking beer will have her punishment postponed until after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno originally had been scheduled to enter a women's prison today before being lashed six times with a rattan cane some time this week.

However, Mohamad Sahfri Abdul Aziz, a legislator in charge of religious affairs, says the caning will be carried out after the current Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

It began Saturday and will end in mid-September.

He says the decision was made at the last minute for compassionate reasons on the advice of the Attorney General's office but insisted that the punishment had not been cancelled.

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32-year-old mother of two, insisted she is ready to be lashed six times with a rattan cane next week for breaching the country's Shariah law, which forbids Muslims to consume alcohol.

'I want to respect the law,' Kartika said.

'Who am I to question the Islamic authorities' laws? That is beyond me.

'I never cried when I was sentenced by the judge. I told myself, all right then, let's get on with it. But if you're going to cane me, then do it in public.'

Miss Shukarno, 32, was sentenced to six lashes by an Islamic court after she was caught with alcohol in a raid on a hotel nightclub in eastern Pahang state last year.

Amnesty International had urged authorities to 'immediately revoke the sentence to cane her and abolish the practice of caning altogether.'

'Caning is a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and is prohibited under international human rights law,' it said in a statement.

But Miss Shukarno has even asked for the caning to be carried out in public to send a clear message to Muslims that they should shun alcohol.

Prosecutor Saiful Idham Sahimi said: 'It is a good punishment because under Islamic law a person who drinks commits a serious offence.'

He added that a rattan cane 'lighter than the one for men' would be used, and that its purpose was to 'educate' rather than punish.

Muslims, who make up two-thirds of Malaysia's 28million population, are governed by sharia law. Although most alcohol offenders are fined, they can also be caned.

Women's rights groups attacked the penalty as being 'too harsh'.

Yesterday the court set a one-week period starting next Monday for the sentence to be carried out in a woman's prison, Saiful said. Prison authorities will decide when to cane her during that period.

He said Kartika will remain in prison during that time and will be released 'as soon as possible' after the caning is carried out.

Caning, administered on the buttocks, breaks the skin and leaves permanent scars. Kartika said earlier that she wanted authorities to cane her as soon as possible so she can resume her life with her husband and children.

Most alcohol offenders are fined, but the crime also carries a three-year prison term and caning.

Non-Muslims are governed by civil courts, which also impose caning for offenses such as rape and corruption. Men over 50, women and children are exempt under civil law.

A Muslim man and woman were also arrested during a series of raids in Cherating, a beach town in Pahang state, on the night when Kartika was arrested.

Both were also sentenced to caning, but have appealed.

Malaysian clubs and lounges typically serve alcohol and are not legally required to check if customers are Muslims before serving them.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1207643/Muslim-model-woman-Malaysia-caned-caught-drinking-beer.html#ixzz0Xsmii0O2

Marital Rape, Crime or Not?

Given the marked increase in violent crimes including sexual abuse and domestic violence, Suhakam (the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia) recently submitted a report to the Parliamentary Select Committee proposing amendments to the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code. Although not specifically mentioned as such, the issue of marital rape was subsequently highlighted in the press, stirring up a hornet’s nest. Religious intellectuals and others described Suhakam’s suggestions as going against Islam and ruining the marriage institution (Mingguan Malaysia, 21 Aug 2004). In response, Suhakam commissioner Prof Hamdan Adnan stood firm and defended Suhakam’s recommendations. “Rape is violent and cruel and indeed should not happen between a husband and wife” (NST 24 Aug 2004).

The call for the recognition of marital rape is not new. The Anti-Rape Task Force representing Women’s Centre for Change, Sisters in Islam, Women’s Aid Organisation, All Women Action Society and Protect and Save the Children submitted a memorandum in September 2003 to the Attorney General’s chambers, the Ministry of Women and Family Development and members of Parliament which, among other things, called for marital rape to be recognized as an offence. Their frequent dealings with women who had been abused sexually by their husbands have spurred women’s groups to push for legislation against marital rape.

Discussions in the press show that there is some acknowledgement that sexual abuse of a wife by her husband does indeed occur; however, the phrase ‘marital rape’ and the suggestion that it should be made an offence under the Penal Code has evoked a strong negative response from some quarters. Some of the arguments used by individuals who oppose not only the criminalization of marital rape, but the concept itself, are discussed below.

1. The rights of a husband in a marriage

It is often believed that once a woman is married, she is her husband’s property and the marriage contract is an entitlement to sex. Sir Matthew Hale, Chief Justice in 17th Century England wrote:

“ The husband cannot be guilty of rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife, for by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract, the wife hath given herself in kind unto the husband which she cannot retract.”

Perak Mufti Dr Harussani Zakaria would seem to support this same thinking when he was recently quoted as saying that the act of a husband forcing his wife to have sex with him cannot be construed as rape and as a wrongdoing in Islam:

“A husband has the right to be intimate with his wife and the wife must obey. If the wife refuses, the rule of nusyus (recalcitrant) can be applied and the husband will no longer be responsible for his wife (23 Aug 2004, The Star).

Comment: There is a huge difference between having consensual sexual intercourse with a spouse and raping a spouse. Sexual intercourse between consenting spouses does not entail abuse, violence and force. Rape on the other hand occurs where consent is absent and often, coercion (both physical and mental) prevails. One must consider to what extent a spouse can claim conjugal rights. In terms of conjugal rights, while some may argue that sexual intercourse between husband and wife jima’ is a religious duty and that the wife must submit, others have argued that the husband should perform jima’ with adab (courtesy). All religions value human dignity and life. None of them condone the use of force or cruelty in a marriage; however narrow interpretations of religious texts have often been used to justify the oppression of women. This has to stop.

2. Existing laws and sufficient

Malaysian Syariah Lawyers Association deputy president Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar felt that existing laws were sufficient to tackle the issue. Religious Adviser to the Prime Minister Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Othman was reported as saying that Islamic Family laws already gave Muslim wives an appropriate remedy (NST 23Aug 2004). He said that a Muslim wife could turn to the Syariah Court if she is dissatisfied or treated with cruelty and demand a divorce.

Comment: There is no specific provision on marital rape in either the Islamic Family Law Enactments or the Penal Code. Although a woman may lodge a complaint of ill treatment against her husband in the Syariah Court, how likely would a complaint of ‘forced sex with one’s husband’ be interpreted as ill treatment or sufficient grounds for divorce? Furthermore, suggesting that a woman should demand a divorce implies that the offence is a merely a marital offence and not a criminal one.

As for the Penal Code, Section 375 states clearly, the circumstances that define rape. However if the act of sexual intercourse between a man and his wife falls under any of these circumstances set out in S.375, the man is protected from being charged with raping his wife due to the exception clause in S.375. Women’s groups have called for the removal of this exception clause so that the marriage institution will no longer protect husbands who sexually abuse or rape their wives. One might argue that marital rape could come under the purview of the Domestic Violence Act (DVA) 1994 which also includes in the definitions of domestic violence “ (c) compelling the victim by force or threat to engage in any conduct or act, sexual or otherwise, from which the victim has a right to abstain”. The problem with the DVA is that in order to prosecute a person, it has to be a crime under one of the provisions of the Penal Code. Because marital rape is not recognized in the Penal code, forced sexual relations with a husband becomes an act from which a wife has no right to abstain. And so, there is no legal protection for women on this matter, be they Muslim or non-Muslim wives.

3. The relationship between a man and his wife is a family issue

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil reportedly said “ Marital rape is a family issue and as Muslims we have to look at the matter this, way, studying it from all aspects and not pointing fingers” (NST 24 Aug 2004). A letter in NST (6 Sept 2004) entitled “Do not meddle with the family” suggests that “some things are beyond legislation and best left to the conscience of man himself”.

Comment: When a person is assaulted or abused, it is no less a crime when the perpetrator is a family member. Violence within the family cannot be considered a family matter. The DVA is an example of a legislation that deals with violence/abuse in a domestic situation. Domestic violence (or child abuse for that matter) is no longer considered a private family issue. It is an act of violence that society does not tolerate. Marital rape should also be seen in the same light.

4. Legislation would lead to extra-marital affairs

A letter to the press (NST 25 Aug 2004) suggested, if wives have the right to say “no” to their husbands, then the husbands would be “faced with the dilemma of either committing marital rape or the matrimonial offence of adultery in seeking sexual release with another woman”.

Comment: Once again women are held responsible for men’s actions. Marital rape is often trivialized as an issue of a man wanting sex and the woman being difficult and forcing the poor sex-starved husband to compel his wife to have sex. Marital rape is not about sexual release. It is a violent act. It is to do with the abuse of power and the domination of a wife. It has been said that one marriage partner can make the other miserable, but can’t make the other unfaithful. Adultery is about choice and the adulterer must take full responsibility for his/her actions.

5. Marital rape is a Western idea

There are those who argue that marital rape is a western concept and designed to disrupt the family unit. Perak Mufti Datuk Seri Dr Harussani Zakaria was reported to have said that Suhakam’s proposal came about as a result of Western influences, adding that Western society felt guilty over the way its men had treated women in the past and that was why it strove to give women additional rights now (NST 23 Aug 2004).

Comment: It makes no difference what the origins of the phrase ‘marital rape’ are. The point is that this form of abuse occurs throughout the world irrespective of culture, religion or ethnic background. That we learn from and share our experiences with women from different parts of the world, does not negate the issue. It is also high time we stop blaming the West for everything we disagree with.

Resistance to recognizing marital rape (let alone criminalizing it) is not unexpected. Proponents of the DVA know only too well that it took them more than 10 years to get the Act passed. Recognition is just the first step towards accessing justice for marital rape victims. From the experience with the DVA, we know that legislation alone will not make the problem disappear; however it will send a very strong message to society that violence in the home (including the sexual abuse of a wife) is a crime and a public matter. It cannot be tolerated or condoned. In addition to legislation, greater public awareness on this issue and support systems for women in these circumstances are urgently needed.

As a signatory to the Convention of the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), albeit with some reservations, Malaysia is morally obliged to take appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women, whether Muslim or non Muslim. The existing legislation on rape discriminates against women who are raped by their husbands. They have no legal protection. An AFP article Asia divided over the issue of marital rape (NST, 28 Aug 2004) lists Australia, Japan, Taiwan, New Zealand, Philippines and South Korea in a growing list of Asian countries that recognize rape in a marriage. More recently, Indonesia has joined this list. Perhaps one day soon, Malaysia will have the courage to do the same.

http://www.aliran.com/oldsite/monthly/2004b/9m.html