THE ANALYSIS OF THE PERCEPTION AND AWARENESS OF USM STUDENTS TOWARDS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST FEMALES
Main Article Content
Abstract
Due to lockdowns and stay-at-home measures in combating COVID-19 worlwide, the number of domestic violence cases have increased tremendously since 2020. In order to eliminate domestic violence against females, it is imperative to better understand the background of domestic violence against females, as well as the societal institutions that promote its persistence. This study aimed at determining and analysing the perception and awareness level of USM students on domestic violence against females. The result showed that USM students have a strong awareness of different types of abuses. Among those six categories, 72.4% of the respondents strongly agreed with physical abuse as a form of domestic violence and had the largest mean 4.667 while 38.1% of respondents strongly agreed with stalking as a form of domestic violence with the lowest mean 3.905. However, the result also revealed that the majority of the students are unaware that the illness-based violence is one of the causes of domestic violence as opposed to the other five causes. We also found that there exists a significant difference of percentages of responses between strengthening laws and legislations against domestic violence as a potential solution (73.34%) with the mean of 4.686. This shows a rather alarming signal that USM students are generally too dependent on law and have the mindset that law can overcome domestic violence issues. Recommendations to improve the students’ awareness on this matter are presented accordingly.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Attalla, S., & Rome, A. A. (2020). Effects of domestic violence on academic achievement among university students in Selangor, Malaysia. Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 8-13. https://medic.upm.edu.my/upload/dokumen/2020010214555502_MJMHS_0065.pdf
Berniella, I., Facchini, G. (2021). COVID-19 lockdown and domestic violence: Evidence from internet-search behavior in 11 countries. In European Economic Review, 136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2021.103775
D’Cruz, F. (2020). Domestic violence at crisis level months after lockdown. https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2020/11/25/domestic-violence-at-crisis-level-months-after-lockdown/
Dandavati, N. (2017). Perspectives on domestic violence: A coordinated community response to a community issue. Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO). https://wao.org.my/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Perspectives-on-Domestic-Violence.pdf
Ghani, M. A. (2014). Exploring domestic violence experiences from the perspective of abused women in Malaysia. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/288379177.pdf
Jung, Y. P. (2020). Domestic violence and the safety of women during the Covid-19 pandemic. Penang Institute. https://penanginstitute.org/publications/covid-19-crisis-assessments/domestic-violence-and-the-safety-of-women-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/#ftn7b
KANITA, C. (2020). Centre for Research on Women and Gender (KANITA). https://kanita.usm.my/index.php
Mwale, M. L., Chirwa, G. C., Mchenga, M., Zabul, T. K. (2021). Micro-finance and women’s perception of domestic violence in a fragile state. In World Development Perspectives, 24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2021.100374
Mukundan, S.R. (2020). Domestic violence amid COVID-19 in Malaysia: Diving deeper into the heart of the matter.
Piquero, A. R., Jennings, W. G., Jemison, E., Kaukinen, C., Knau, F.M. (2021). Domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic - Evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Criminal Justice, 74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2021.101806
Plumptre, E. (2021). What are the types of domestic violence? https://www.verywellmind.com/different-types-of-domestic-violence-5119884
Rahim, R., Tan, T., Carvalho, M., Zainal, F. (2021). Over 9,000 domestic violence cases recorded since MCO began, Rina Harun tells Parliament. In The Star, 23 September 2021. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2021/09/23/over-9000-domestic-violence-cases-recorded-since-mco-began-rina-harun-tells-parliament
Reif, K. Jaffe, P., Dawson, M., Straatman, A. L. (2020). Provision of specialized services for children exposed to domestic violence: Barriers encountered in Violence Against Women (VAW) services. In Children and Youth Services Review, 109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.104684
Sarkar M. (2010) A study on domestic violence against adult and adolescent females in a rural area of West Bengal. Indian J Community Med;35:311-5 https://www.ijcm.org.in/text.asp?2010/35/2/311/66881
Shuib, R., Endut, N., Ali, S. H., Osman, I., Abdullah, S., Oon, S. W., Ghani, P. A., Prabakaran, G., Hussin, N. S., & Shahrudin, S. S. H. (2013). Domestic violence and women’s well-being in malaysia: issues and challenges conducting a national study using the who multi-country questionnaire on women’s health and domestic violence against women. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 91, 475–488. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.08.445
Qistina, T.N. (2020). Community responses to gendered issues during Malaysia’s fight against COVID-19. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/seac/2020/12/14/community-responses-to-gendered-issues-during-malaysias-fight-against-covid-19/
UN, U. N. (2021). What is domestic abuse? United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/coronavirus/what-is-domestic-abuse
WAO, W. A. (2009). Domestic violence. http://www.wao.org.my/research/domesticviolence.htm
WAO. (2020). Domestic Violence Statistics. https://wao.org.my/domestic-violence-statistics/
WAO. (2021). Am I in an abusive relationship? https://wao.org.my/am-i-in-an-abusive-relationship/#1533615339606-32a86d47-a67c
WCC, (2020). Laws in Malaysia. https://www.wccpenang.org/domestic-violence-laws-in-malaysia/
WHO. (2021.a). Devastatingly pervasive: 1 in 3 women globally experience violence.
WHO (2021.b). Violence against women. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact- sheets/detail/violence-against-women
Yaw, A. S. C., & Mohammed, A. (2013). Domestic violence and its effect on women. SSRN Electronic Journal, January. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2364190
Turhan Z. (2020). Improving approaches in psychotherapy and domestic violence interventions for perpetrators from marginalized ethnic groups. In Aggression and Violent Behavior, 50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2019.101337