WOMEN should not be blamed for crimes committed against them said Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

Khairy said that women and the way they dress were usually deemed to be at fault when serious crimes such as harassment and rape happened to them.

“We still have a very, very sad patriarchal society which is misogynistic so we still get a lot of comments even in instances on serious crimes against women like rape.

“The first thing they will comment is not about the perpetrator but rather that the women was dressed in a particular way,” he told a crowd of 600 people at TN50 dialogue with Khazanah Nasional’s young talent at Kuala Lumpur today.

Khairy said there should be a voice that speaks out against those who put the blame on women as it is a widespread issue common among Malays in social media.

“It’s more prevalent than you think. This kind of thinking is, I would say almost the mainstream on the Malay ground or Malay heartland in Facebook.

“How women chooses to dress is never ever an excuse for harassment or rape,” he said when a participant of the dialogue highlighted that women in Malaysia should be empowered and not be taught to live in fear.

He also said he speaks up whenever female athletes were targeted for the way they dress and encouraged others to do the same as means to end discrimination against female.

“I do this whenever my female athletes are targeted for what they wear. I speak out against it even though I’ve been called all sorts of things by people who claim they are much more qualified in affairs of religion.

“I need to speak out because if we don’t speak out then we will lose this battle. And people would say it’s the women’s fault.”

Khairy has been holding town hall meetings and dialogue sessions with young adults nationwide under the TN50 initiative.

He said to date, 80,000 aspirations from youths were received throughout the sessions held. – November 9, 2017.