KUALA LUMPUR - Human rights groups have expressed concern over amendments to Terengganu state Islamic laws by the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) state government that punish Muslim women who become pregnant out of wedlock, or act like men, among other things.
Women who get pregnant out of wedlock can be fined up to RM5,000 (S$1,530) or jailed for up to three years or caned up to six times, or any combination of the three.
Women wearing men’s clothing and behaving like men can be fined up to RM2,000 or jailed up to a year, or both. For subsequent offences, they can be caned up to six times or jailed up to three years, or both, and fined up to RM5,000.
Ten rights groups, including Sisters In Islam and Centre for Independent Journalism, have urged the Malaysian Human Rights Commission to conduct an impact assessment of the latest version of the Terengganu Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment 2022, after the amendments were passed on Dec 1 by the state assembly.
“The amendments to the enactment further exacerbate existing harmful impact on women, young people and LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) persons, among others,” they said in a statement.
In particular, the amendment criminalising premarital pregnancies is the subject of much debate, with conflicting opinions among Muslim medical professionals.
“The criminalisation of out-of-wedlock pregnancies not only places unnecessary trauma on, but also burdens and shames, survivors of sexual assault,” the statement added.
But the state’s Syariah Implementation, Education and Higher Education Committee chairman Satiful Bahari Mamat said he hoped that “the well-being of Muslims, especially in Terengganu, will be better protected” with the amendments.
He said the section on women acting like men was needed as existing legal provisions applied only to men acting like women.
“In the past, it may not have been much of an issue (women acting like men). Now, however, we see that ‘pengkid’ (Malay slang for tomboys or lesbians) and similar cases are becoming more widespread. So, the state government intends to curb this issue,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.
Dr Mohamed Hatta Mohamed Tarmizi, vice-president of Muslim medical professionals group I-Medik, and Dr Murizah Mohd Zain, both gynaecologists, said critics of the amendments were influenced by “morally bankrupt” Western culture.
“Law must be equipped with morality if society is to function smoothly,” they said in a joint statement.
“Rather than offering ‘consent and condoms’ as some sort of solution to social ills, we must address the root of the issue which is comprehensive management of sexual desires.”
Two other prominent doctors, Dr Musa Nordin and Dr Johari Bux, said that arguments which suggested that critics of the amendments were promoting premarital sex were “irresponsible, outrageous and offensive”.
They said the motives of those opposed to the amendments were to prevent negative consequences to and improve outcomes for mothers and babies.
Religion falls under the respective states’ purview in Malaysia, and the approval of the federal government is not needed to effect legislative changes. About 63 per cent of the country’s population of 33 million are Muslims.
The Perikatan Nasional coalition, of which PAS is a member, won all eight parliamentary seats in Terengganu in the Nov 19 general election, and 74 seats nationwide, out of the 222-seat Parliament.
