The government's move to recognise rape under aggravated circumstances has been lauded by women's groups.

The All Women's Action Society (Awam), a member of Joint Action Group Against Violence Against Women (JAG-VAW) said the move to finally acknowledge aggravated rape reflected the government's seriousness in wanting to tackle the issue of violence against women effectively.

Awam's comments come in the wake of the statement made by the Parliamentary Select Committee for Amendments to the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code chairperson Radzi Sheikh Ahmad to the New Straits Times on Thursday that the government would not only widen the definition of rape under the Penal Code but would also treat the crime of rape according to the circumstances under which it happens.

"By definition, rape is an act of force against one's consent. We are very concerned by the views raised on 'simple' rape by Radzi. To just label rape a crime so heinous as 'simple' trivialises this traumatic incident.

And defining 'simple' rape as one which is devoid of force is problematic because by definition rape is an act of force as it involves sex without consent, whether that force is physical or not is immaterial," said Awam executive director Rabiah Omar.

Awam further urged the government not to reduce the mandatory minimum five years penalty for rape even if the rape is classified as 'simple'.

Rabiah pointed out that "allowing judges the option of sentencing rapists to one year's jail term as suggested by Radzi trivialises the seriousness of rape as a crime and would end up putting it along the lines of minor offences like shoplifting.

"Awam feels that the government should instead consider imposing a more than five years' prison sentence for aggravated rape," she added.

Various circumstances

Awam also urged the government to consider including the following circumstances under the category of aggravated rape:

1) When the rape is committed in the presence of another person physically, virtually or through recording.

2) When the victim is pregnant at the time the rape took place.

3) When the victim is mentally ill or has physical disability.

4) When the victim is intoxicated or drugged.

Rabiah said that these were the circumstances Awam had raised in their Memorandum on Laws Related to Rape in 2002.

We want the government to reflect its stand that rape as a crime cannot be tolerated and negotiation via the punishment meted out is no reflection of justice served to the survivor, she stressed..

"The other issue that the government should acknowledge is that of marital rape, which we had raised in our memorandum. For as long as marital rape is not given due recognition as a crime, then the government is not taking a holistic approach in protecting women who suffer rape under various circumstances."

She said JAG-VAW had presented the above proposed amendments to the Select Committee, some of which had been addressed as reported by the Press.

"We hope the rest of our proposals are also given similar consideration," Rabiah said.