A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MARITAL RAPE LAWS IN MALAYSIA, INDONESIA AND SINGAPORE: TOWARDS SAFEGUARDING CHILD BRIDES

Abstract

Pursuant to Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of Child (‘CRC’), a state party is obliged to provide pertinent legal protection for children from all forms of violence, including sexual abuse. Despite being a state party to both CRC and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Malaysia has fallen behind on achieving this. The Malaysian position
of simultaneously legalising marital rape and child marriages, without placing any legal protection for girls has placed child brides vulnerable to becoming victims of marital rape. Thus, this paper aims to address the loophole in the existing laws relating to marital rape and child marriages in Malaysia, and suggests law reform to protect child brides. To achieve this aim, the laws relating to marital rape and child marriages in Malaysia and its lacuna will be examined. Following this, a comparative study will be conducted on laws relating to marital rape and child marriages in Indonesia and Singapore.