For information on the above-mentioned subject, please refer to pp. 689 and 690 of Country Reports 1993 which is available at your Regional Documentation Centre, as well as to the attached documents. Also attached is an article on the current situation of women in Malaysia, from the November-December 1993 issue of Against the Current which might be of interest.

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Against the Current [Detroit]. November-December 1993. Vol. 8, No. 5. Carol McAllister. "Capitalist Development in Malaysia and Prospects for Political Struggle: Women's Work and Resistance," pp. 30-38

Agence France Presse (AFP). 16 March 1994. "Caning Proposed for Wife Beaters in Malaysia." (NEXIS)

Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development, Kuala Lumpur. 19 October 1994. Information package sent to the DIRB in Ottawa, including a short brief on violence against women in Malaysia, a list of groups on violence against women, a 13 May 1994 statement on the Domestic Violence Act by the Joint Action Group (JAG) on Violence Against Women, the 1989 amendment to the Penal Code, the Domestic Violence Act 1994, minutes of a 23 October 1993 NGO meeting on the Domestic Violence Bill, a 14 February 1994 memorandum on the Domestic Violence Bill by Sisters in Islam to the Minister of National Unity and Social Development, a 14 February 1994 working document on the Domestic Violence Bill by Sisters in Islam, and a 1991 document by Sisters in Islam entitled "Are Muslim Men Allowed to Beat their Wives?"

Asiaweek [Hong Kong]. 9 February 1994. "Helping Battered Wives: A New Approach to Cope with Domestic Violence", p. 41.

Malaysian Law News. June 1994. Faridad Hamid. "Domestic Violence Act Passed but for Whom?," pp. 27-28. (Included in the information package sent to the DIRB by the All Women's Action Society (AWAS) in Selangor, Malaysia)

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. June 1994. "Malaysia Considers Caning for Wife-Beaters." (DIRB country file)

WIN News [Lexington, Mass.]. Spring 1994. Vol. 20, No. 2. "Domestic Violence Bill Proposed in Malaysia," p. 55.