Talknita 3.0: Ending the stigma of marital rape

By Afifah Syahmina and Shaheerah Dzaki

GOMBAK, 16 November 2023: The Talknita series returned to the IIUM on Friday, 10 November 2023 with a discussion of the topic, “Redefining Intimacy: Ending Marital Rape Culture”.

The speakers of the third talk in the series were legal associate from Khalek Awang & Associates, Mrs. Farihah Meor, and criminal law lecturer from AIKOL, Dr. Mazlena Mohamad Hussain.

The moderator of the event, Meor Danish Irfan, mentioned that the aim of the event was to inspire the audience to take action with the support of organisations working on the issue or advocating for legal and social change.

The issue of marital rape would not be typically brought up in daily conversations, hence, the Talknita programme was helping to increase awareness among audiences of the important issue.

“Many marital rape cases remained unreported because of one major thing, which is unfortunately common in Malaysia, as it is considered as a form of societal taboo,” remarked Meor at the beginning of the discusssion.

Mrs. Farihah Meor addressed how complex the issue of consent is and how its definition has been modernised over the course of time.

“Marital rape has never been discussed explicitly by early Muslims until today: however, Islam has always protected the rights of both women and men in a marriage,” Mrs. Farihah added.

It was clear from her discourse that marital rape is not permissible in Islam.

Throughout her detailed speech, she also elaborated on some common misconceptions of Muslims when it came to the discourse of marital rape.

“Marital rape is not a legal offence under Malaysian Law,” highlighted Dr. Mazlena as she shared the legal standpoint by explaining the penal codes related to marital rape.

This issue was not often not reported as the victims were mostly scared of other people’s perception and how this can affect them in the long term.

Nonetheless, she explained that it is the responsibility of the prosecuting officer to find an alternative solution to ending marital rape.

The Talknita series, is hosted annually by EmpowHer, the women division of The Good Society, a contemporary youth movement. According to its website, EmpowHer is created and dedicated to provide a platform for women in terms of developing leadership, intellectualism, representation and advocacy in women. Talknita 3.0 was held in Auditorium A, Kulliyyah of Engineering, IIUM Gombak from 8.00pm to 10.30pm.***