Women caned in Malaysia for attempting to have lesbian sex
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Two women found guilty of attempting to have sex have been caned in Malaysia’s conservative north-eastern state of Terengganu, in the first punishment of its kind.
The two women, aged 22 and 32, were caned six times each in the Terengganu sharia high court just after 10am, after the sentence was read out.
The caning was carried out in the courtroom and was witnessed by up to 100 people, including the public.
While women in Malaysia have been caned for sexual offences in the past, such as adultery, rights activists say this is the first time two women have been caned for attempting to have sex.
“The punishment was shocking and it was a spectacle,” Thilaga Sulathireh, an activist from the Malaysian rights group Justice for Sisters who was in court on Monday told the Guardian, “For all intents and purposes it was a public caning.”
“This case shows a regression for human rights,” she said, “Not only for LGBT people but all persons because corporal punishment affects all people.”
The Justice for Sisters activist said the group was concerned the case would set a dangerous precedent for the increased policing of morality and sexual identities in Malaysia.
Sharia law enforcement officers in Terengganu identified the two women attempting to engage in sexual acts in a car in April.
The two women were fined by the sharia high court on 12 August, after they pleaded guilty to committing musahaqah, or sexual relations between women.
The judges ordered they be caned six times and fined 3,300 Malaysian Ringgit (£619).
Under Malaysian law, each state is empowered to enact laws based on sharia guidelines.
Rights groups had previously urged the Malaysian government to drop the case, which they argued constituted torture under international human rights law.
The verdict, said Graeme Reid, director of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender program at Human Rights Watch, was the “latest blow to Malaysia’s LGBT community, which had hoped for better protection under the new government”.
“This prosecution and punishment,” he said in an August 21 statement, “will only fuel the recent wave of homophobia and transphobia in Malaysia.”
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They turn a blind eye to rampant child prostitution (very big with the perv tourists) but cane two women who are attracted to each other. I am with bbl-1 on this. Stop all aid from us.
Well this is was a sad story when i heard about it. And i dont get how ass backwards folks can be about the human condition. i dont care where someone lives and who they find attractive. So this really is too bad. i wish i could put them on a plane and let them know they can be safe and free to be with each other here in america. Hopefully they wont be deterred but motivated to find a safe place and get some help along the way.
Just wow!
How lovely. Must be like Heaven there. Nothing like law and punishment based on the mores and values of ancient men.
We're not much better.
Only 33 states prohibit corporal punishment in schools. Only 2 prohibit it in 'private' [read religious] schools. Which seems to indicate that WE allow similar 'ancient men' to govern the punishment of our children in this country.
In the 60's we had teachers that used 'special' 18'' x 1'' 'rulers' to cane students. Boy howdy did it hurt like hell. After seeing a welt on my back, my mother went to school and in a private meeting, informed my teacher that only she and my father had the right to hit me. My teacher's face was white when she came out of the office and no teacher ever touched me again...
Caning is far worse. It is meant to break skin.
I am not an advocate of corporal punishment in schools, but I don't think they equate to a canning.
My complaint is not primarily the caning but rather that contemporary societies are still blindly adopting much of the mores and values of the ancients. The lack of critical thinking is both astounding and dangerous.
They are still trying to deny modernity and are about 50-100 years societally.
Which American churches would this also apply to? Catholics Mennonites, Baptists, and Mormons would be to be the most obvious sects.
i noticed you didn't indicate if the teacher had a reason to beat you. i and many others are suggesting that wanting to be with the same sex is not a reason anyone should be in fear of any type of punishment.
So i am not sure you get to claim a ruler is the same as a canning.
As the judge and jury in the classroom, she need not have a reason...
Oh I agree, yet we can hardly decry 'corporal punishment' in one country when we STILL allow it in our own classrooms.
Really? What is the defining difference between being hit with a ruler and hit with a cane?
My father did far worse with a patent leather belt far too often. Cut two lines and brought up welts. He hated when we put up our arms to block the blows because those would show. Those are the days I didn't go to school till I healed up a bit...
BTW, it was an 18" ruler and my teacher weighed at least 200 lbs. She got into it...She put fear in the hearts of 6' tall guys...She liked to hit them across the top of their hands. 'Crack some knuckles' she called it...
The upside is that this is a sign of growing gender equality in the region given that this is the first time gay women have been caned for having sex in Malaysia, whereas in Aceh, Indonesia gay men are regularly punished by caning. Of course the women were clothed and received 6 light taps (according to reports), while men are typically punished with 50-100 hard canings on bare skin.....and some don't survive the punishment. Soon women will have full equality!