Caning of Women in Malaysia

(Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) On February 9, three Muslim women were caned at the Kajang Women's Prison after being sentenced in syariah court for engaging in illicit sex.

Reportedly, it's the first time that women have been caned in Malaysia.

It's understandable that women's rights activists have expressed outrage.

All Women's Action Society (Awam) president Sofia Lim Siu Ching said the home ministry needed to explain why the punishment was carried out in secret.

"The expediency and the secrecy reek of bad faith and betray a troubling disregard for public opinion on an issue that has drawn attention around the globe," she said in a statement Thursday.

Sisters in Islam (SIS) executive director Hamidah Marican said the three cases constituted further discrimination against Muslim women in Malaysia, and asked if the men involved in these cases were similarly caned.

"It violates constitutional guarantees of equality and non-discrimination as the whipping of women under Syariah criminal offences legislation contradicts civil law where women are not punishable by caning under Section 289 of the Criminal Procedure Code," she said.

In response, the Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association (PPMM) President Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar said that the women protesters are ignorant. He explained that syariah caning is not really a bad thing.

"It must be stressed again that the syariah caning is different from the civil caning. The syariah caning does not cause injury to the offender compared with the civil caning which leaves a scar," he said.

The debate regarding the caning of women remains heated in Malaysia.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.