The advice of a Malaysian female minister to men to ‘gently’ beat their’stubborn’ wives to chastise them for ‘unruly’ behavior has generated anger.
Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff, the deputy minister for women, family, and community development, has been accused of ‘normalizing’ domestic violence by encouraging men to strike their spouses in order to demonstrate how strict he is and ‘how much he wants her to change.’
The deputy minister first recommended husbands to ‘discipline’ their’stubborn’ spouses by speaking to them in a two-minute video on Instagram titled ‘Mother’s Tips.’
They should sleep alone from them for three days if they refuse to adjust their behavior.
‘However, if the wife still refuses to listen to the counsel or modify her behavior after the sleeping separation, the husbands can employ the physical touch approach, striking her gently to demonstrate his strictness and how much he wants her to change,’ Siti Zailah stated in the video.
In order to win over their partners, the deputy minister, who is also a member of Parliament for the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, advised women to only speak to their husbands if they had permission.
‘Talk to your spouses when they’re calm, done eating, prayed, and relaxed,’ Siti Zailah said. ‘Ask permission first when we wish to talk.’
The Joint Action Group for Gender Equality, a coalition of women’s rights organizations, has accused Siti Zailah of sexual harassment.
‘The deputy minister must resign for normalizing domestic violence, which is illegal in Malaysia, as well as spreading attitudes and behaviors that are anti-gender equality,’ according to a joint statement.
According to the organization, there were 9,015 police reports of domestic violence between 2020 and 2021, and those figures are likely to be higher because they do not include women who have reported the abuse to charity.
‘There is often a stigma and fear associated with reporting domestic violence, which is exacerbated by utterances like Siti Zailah’s,’ the women’s rights organizations stated.
‘As a minister who is supposed to support gender equality and women’s rights to protection and safety, this is repugnant,’ they added.