Women face discrimination one way or another. More typically they are judged based on the way they carry themselves and their sense of dressing, which always becomes an issue - often times the bone of contention and that too for the wrong reasons.

And all this in spite of the Constitution being amended to ensure women will not be discriminated based on gender.

The more recent controversy was sparked by none other than Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat who said the state would not tolerate women who were "sexily" dressed. After an uproar from the public, he retracted and said he was talking about Muslim women in Kelantan.

One wonders what prompts a religious scholar like Nik Aziz to come out with such statements. His remark that "a woman who wears an indecent outfit does not respect herself, so how can she expect men to respect her?" leaves much to be desired.

Would he care to explain what he means by "indecent"? So engrossed is Nik Aziz with the appearance of women in his state that he has no qualms slapping a RM500 fine on supposedly indecently dressed women workers in restaurants and retail outlets, the pretext being that it will help protect their virtue.

The Kota Baru Muncipal Council has announced it will "no longer tolerate indecent dressing" by women in the state. So much for respecting and upholding the country's Constitution.

Sincere attitude

Instead of bickering over what women should and should not wear, it would certainly help if Nik Aziz adopted a sincere attitude towards issues pertaining to violence against women and work at improving the welfare of women in his state.

To assume that violence against women happens because of the way they dress is a myth. In a way, Nik Aziz's belief that a woman is to be blamed for rape and molestation is no less an insult to men in general because he has implied that men by nature are lusty, immoral and only view women as sex objects.

If the Tok Guru is worried that men can be aroused by a scantily-dressed woman which he attributes to "human nature", then how does he explain women in hijab and tudung being raped? How does Nik Aziz explain the fact that women in Sri Lanka who were survivors of the devastating tsunami two years ago were raped when chaotic scenarios were the order of the day.

Women get raped, irrespective of what they wear! When in Oct 7, 2000 the tudung-wearing Noor Suzaily Mukhtar was raped by an express bus driver, what would have "aroused" the assailant? She was fully clothed and yet he was turned on? Can Nik Aziz help explain this? By the way, the bus driver Hanafi Mat Hassan hails from Kelantan. What an irony!

Nik Aziz seems to have little respect for women because he sees them nothing short of a sex symbol, created solely for the pleasure of men, more precisely to make husbands happy in bed. Behind closed doors, what husbands do to their wives is hardly Nik Aziz's concern. Marital rape is not an issue the Kelantan chief minister wants to worry about.

To condemn women for looking good or sexy is against the fundamentals of human rights. And Nik Aziz better realise the 'battle' he is about to perpetuate with his irrational ruling. Kelantan is not a police state and nor is Nik Aziz a guardian of women's virtue. Skirt or baju kurung, a woman's virtue is not guaranteed or protected by what she wears but is threatened by how they are perceived by men.

So the issue here is not what women wear but how men choose to see them and in most times men, sad to say, look at women with lusty eyes. This situation is what Nik Aziz must be concerned with and work at changing.

Can Nik Aziz disclose how many rape cases, not including marital rape, have been perpetrated against women in Kelantan, irrespective of her being a Muslim or otherwise?

Genuine respect

It takes more than a RM500 fine to protect a women's virtue. It will need men to genuinely respect women and accord them the same freedom. There must not be any chauvinism at work and women must not be discriminated in any way.

Maybe Nik Aziz can protect women's virtue by coming out with another ruling warning men against laying their hands on women. The PAS spiritual leader could devise a way vis-a-vis a fine that will prevent men from trying to act funny with women in Kelantan.

Men never want to accept the fact that women have come of age and are emancipated. Women do not need a male chaperon, and are better off on their own. Many men are not immune to this reality and feel they have the right to dictate how women should lead their lives.

In this regard the reaction from Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on this issue was disappointing. All he could say was that "we are already facing problems in terms of interpreting what constitutes indecent dressing. This will only create uneasiness and unhappiness among certain quarters or groups."

Najib's concern was obviously politically motivated. He had little words of support for women, confirming the long held belief that the government is not gender senstitised.

JJ RAY started her career with a mainstream publication. A non-conformist, she soon saw the barriers that went up whenever, through her writing, she tried to make the world a home for one and all.