Abuse victims: Society needs to check on neighbours, close friends - Fuziah

KUANTAN - Wanita PKR chief Fuziah Salleh said in order to change the fate of victims of abusive relationships, society needs to play a role by checking on the neighbours and close friends who might be in such situation and show support to them.

She said the "jangan jaga tepi kain orang" (mind your own business) stigma has taught people to not care about how others were doing.

“I think we need to have more informers. There is this saying "jangan jaga tepi kain orang", so people believed that it is not okay to know what is going on with your neighbours, but I think this is where we are wrong.

“It is important for the people close to us, our immediate neighbours and friends to alert each other if there are people who need help,” she told Sinar Daily in an interview.

Fuziah who has counselling background said women who were victims of abusive relationships and marriages sometime fail to ask for help because they were of the idea that it was not okay to cry out for help or be a victim of abuse.

“So, as a community, we have to show more empathy, we have to support them. We need to have a good support system.

“Not only do we have difficulties between family and neighbours, we also have difficulties with the support system, so it is difficult for children or women because they think it is normal to suffer.

“They do not realise that it is an abuse and we need to educate them and raise awareness. It's okay to say that it is not okay to be a victim of violence,” she said.

When asked about the stigma of divorce and divorcees especially when it comes to women, she said it is something that is frowned upon, but allowed in Islam.

“Divorce is a way out, (sometimes) every human being has the right for happiness and if it does not work out then it is okay to accept it knowing that they have tried their best," she added.

However, she said the civil court lacked in terms of compelling the husband or the ex-husband to actually provide alimony for the wife, in comparison to the Syariah Court which under the Family Support Division (BSK) provides for payment of the support.