REMNANTS of the colonial era. Patriarchal and archaic. These are just some of the reasons that could explain why marital rape is yet to be considered a crime in Malaysia.

WHILE reading a business report last month that listed Malaysia’s top 40 richest people (in 2017), it struck me that only one of them was a woman. And she ranks 19th at that.

An Indian bride waits before a mass community marriage in Bahirkhand © AP Photo/Bikas Das

A recent statement, Maneka Gandhi, India’s Women and Child Development Minister, says that marital rape cannot be applied to the Indian context. Her comments have raised many disturbing questions.

Human Rights Watch has urged Bangladesh to scrap a proposed legislation that calls for lowering the legal marriage age of girls to 16. Child marriage rates are very high in South Asia, with Bangladesh topping the list.

It’s official! Under Indian law, marital rape cannot be classified as a crime. A 31-member committee including two female members took the Anti-Rape bill to  Parliament.