Malaysian female minister gets the stick for advising husbands to beat ‘stubborn’ wives

A Malaysian female minister has stirred uproar after advising men to "gently" beat their "stubborn" spouses to chastise them for "unruly" behaviour. The deputy minister for women, family, and community development, Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff, asked husbands to demonstrate to their "unruly" spouses how strict he is and "how much he wants her to change."

Yusoff encouraged husbands to "punish" their "stubborn" spouses by speaking to them in a two-minute Instagram video titled "Mother's Tips." She encouraged males to sleep alone from them for three days if they did not improve their behaviour. She concluded that if the woman still refuses to hear the advice or alter her behaviour after the sleeping separation, the husbands might use physical touch to show his strictness and how much he wants her to change.

To win over their spouse, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party MP also advised women to speak to their spouses only if they had permission. She advised wives to speak with their husbands after they had finished eating, prayed, and were comfortable. She emphasised that if we want to converse, we must first get permission.

Yusoff advised women to communicate with their husbands "when they are peaceful" after they have "finished eating, prayed, and are comfortable." Netizens and various women's rights activist groups were outraged by Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff's statements.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Dato’ Hajah Siti Zailah (@sitizailahmohdyusoff)

The video has gone viral on social media.

The Joint Action Group for Gender Equality, a collection of women's rights organisations, accused Yusoff of "normalising" domestic abuse and requested that she quit as deputy women's minister. According to JAG's statement, there were 9,015 police complaints on domestic abuse during 2020 and 2021, but the number of incidents is likely to be significantly higher because data may not include reports received by NGOs and other groups.

• Malaysia
• Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff
• domestic violence
• Instagram
• social media