Reimagining Malaysia Part 12: Rape

Occasionally, we see social media users expressing outrage over high profile rape cases, such as the Kelantan gang rape, which saw 38 men gang-raping a 15 year-old girl [1], or the heartless father in Chow Kit who repeatedly hit and raped his underage daughter who had just arrived in Kuala Lumpur from Sarawak in search of a better life only to have it turn into an unimaginable nightmare[2]. Despite such cases, only a few people recognise the severity of the rape culture problem in Malaysia.

On average, there are 3,000 rape cases reported yearly in Malaysia. What is even more astounding is that only two out of every 10 cases are reported. Even worse, two out of three rape victims are minors (under 16 years old)[3]. How do these numbers translate into real life?

Including the non-reported cases, it is estimated that there are as many as 15,000 rape cases in Malaysia every year. Hence, a rape takes place every 35 minutes – by the time you finish reading 2 articles of this series, one female would have been raped in some corner of Malaysia. And 80 percent of rape victims, many of whom are girls, suffer in silence.