KUCHING, Aug 1: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) senator Mohd Imran Abd Hamid’s recent proposal to enact a law to protect men from being seduced into committing sexual crimes has sparked outrage from the party’s national vice-women’s chief Voon Shiak Ni.
“What sort of nonsense is this, especially coming from the mouth of a senator, who is entrusted with the most important job to enact laws to protect the rights and interests of the people in this country.
“The proposal by a male senator to enact a sexual harassment law to protect men from being seduced into committing crimes such as rape is a blatant humiliation to women and an embarrassment to the senate,” she said in a statement.
Voon also questioned whether Mohd Imran was aware of the consequences of his proposal, which could provide all rapists the defence to escape the legal consequences of such heinous crimes.
“We will be protecting rapists and this is insane. Girls at a tender age as young as six and below are among the many rape victims yearly. More than half of the victims involved children and teenagers aged below 18, she said.
It was estimated that there were more than 2,000 cases of rape, incest and harassment cases recorded each year, involving children and teenagers below 18 in Malaysia, she added.
“A lawmaker of the right mind should think of how to protect women and children from being victims of these heinous crimes,” Voon said, while adding that Mohd Imran was probably not fit to be in the senate after making such remark.
Yesterday, Mohd Imran, a retired navy admiral, made the proposal during a Dewan Negara debate on the Syarie Legal Profession (Federal Territories) Bill 2019, saying, “This is important, we men need to be protected. The actions and clothing of women can seduce us into breaking the law and cause us to be charged with a crime.”
However, the PKR senator, who came under fire for his suggestion, has issued an apology through a media statement today. — DayakDaily
