Group demands femicide recognition, stronger protection after spate of killings

The Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) has called for the legal recognition of femicide and stronger protection against intimate partner violence following a spate of killings involving women and girls across Malaysia.

Femicide is the intentional killing of a woman or girl because of her gender, often linked to misogyny, gender inequality, or violence and abuse by an intimate partner or family member.

On Oct 9, 16-year-old student Irene Sofiya Khairool Faisal was found unconscious and covered in blood in a school hall at a secondary school in Yong Peng, Johor. She was later pronounced dead.

The police have since nabbed a 16-year-old male suspect over the matter, who is now held under remand.

In a statement today, WAO urged the government to establish a systematic mechanism to record and analyse gender-related killings, expand the Domestic Violence Act 1994 to cover non-marital intimate relationships, and strengthen protection orders to ensure survivors can obtain timely protection.

It also called for stronger school-based mechanisms to identify warning signs of gender-based violence, including threats, harassment, stalking and coercive control, as well as greater efforts to educate students and communities on consent, healthy relationships, empathy, respect and gender equality.

"From January to October 2026, several women and girls have been killed in cases involving male perpetrators or suspects, including current or former intimate partners and male acquaintances or peers.

"These include the alleged killings of women in Batu Pahat, Butterworth, Kepong, Kulim and Ketereh, as well as the recent deaths of a 19-year-old woman in Kuantan and a 16-year-old schoolgirl in Yong Peng.

“These cases raise serious concerns about the safety and protection of women and girls in Malaysia.

"While not every killing of a woman can be conclusively classified as femicide, the recurrence of killings involving intimate partners, family members and other men known to the victims highlights the urgent need to examine the gendered nature of violence against women and girls," the statement read.

Legal protection gaps

WAO also highlighted gaps in Malaysia’s legal and protection framework, noting that the country lacked a specific legal or statistical category for femicide, making it difficult to systematically identify and monitor such deaths.

It said the Domestic Violence Act 1994 also left protection gaps for survivors in non-marital intimate relationships, such as those involving girlfriends and boyfriends.

“The killing of women and girls must not be treated as isolated incidents,” it said, adding that every case should prompt an examination of whether earlier intervention could have prevented the loss of life.

“Women and girls have the right to live free from violence. We must act now to strengthen protection and prevention before more lives are lost," WAO added. - Mkini