[ENGLISH VERSION BELOW] Wanita dan kanak-kanak terus menderita akibat penguatkuasaan yang lemah di mahkamah Syariah Malaysia, menurut Laporan Telenisa 2024 yang dikeluarkan hari ini oleh SIS Forum (Malaysia).
Laporan ini berdasarkan daripada 188 klien yang menerima khidmat bantuan guaman percuma Telenisa tahun lalu, mendedahkan kesukaran berkaitan nafkah anak, perceraian, hak penjagaan dan keganasan rumah tangga.
Telenisa, klinik guaman percuma SIS Forum, telah berkhidmat kepada 188 klien pada tahun 2024, dengan 92% daripadanya adalah wanita, dan kebanyakannya daripada isi rumah berpendapatan rendah. Suri rumah (49), ibu tunggal, serta wanita yang sedang melalui proses perceraian membentuk sebahagian besar klien – ramai daripada mereka masih bergantung secara kewangan.
“Kesukaran yang dialami oleh klien kami menunjukkan satu perkara yang jelas: wanita dan kanak-kanak terjejas akibat daripada kelemahan penguatkuasaan perintah nafkah serta jurang dalam sistem keadilan kita. Tanpa reformasi seperti penubuhan agensi sokongan kanak-kanak (child support agency) dan proses yang lebih jelas untuk mendapatkan hak kewangan yang sepatutnya diterima oleh wanita dan kanak-kanak, keluarga akan terus menderita dalam diam,” kata Rozana Isa, pengarah eksekutif SIS Forum (Malaysia).
Dapatan utama
- Wanita klien utama: 92% klien adalah wanita, kebanyakannya datang daripada latar belakang berpendapatan rendah hingga sederhana
- Krisis nafkah anak: 42% kes berkaitan nafkah anak. Punca utama: bapa enggan membayar (47%), menganggur (27%) dan ingkar perintah mahkamah (9%)
- Pertikaian perkahwinan dan perceraian: Kes cerai di luar mahkamah (16) dan perkahwinan tidak berdaftar (42) menjejaskan hak wanita
- Isu hak penjagaan anak: 23 kes pertikaian hak penjagaan, kebanyakannya berkaitan dengan perkahwinan tidak berdaftar atau poligami
- Keganasan dan penderaan: 20 kes keganasan rumah tangga, tujuh penderaan seksual, satu rogol dalam perkahwinan dan satu penderaan kanak-kanak. Penderaan tidak hanya berbentuk fizikal, tetapi juga kewangan (26 kes) dan psikologi (23 kes)
- Halangan akses keadilan: Hampir 100 wanita hadir di mahkamah tanpa peguam. Ada juga yang berdepan dengan peguam tidak beretika atau hakim yang tidak hadir, dan ini mencerminkan kelemahan sistemik
Cadangan
- Agensi sokongan kanak-kanak Malaysia
- Tubuhkan child support agency Malaysia bagi menguruskan pembayaran dan penguatkuasaan
- Wujudkan dana interim nafkah anak untuk ibu atau anak sementara menunggu tunggakan
- Khidmat guaman
- Bantuan guaman Syariah bersubsidi untuk golongan 40% pendapatan terendah di setiap negeri
- Galakkan lebih ramai peguam sukarela Syariah melalui NGO dan institusi
- Platform digital pelbagai bahasa mengenai hak wanita dan prosedur mahkamah
- Penyelesaian kes
- Tetapkan tempoh masa penyelesaian kes Syariah (12–18 bulan)
- Semakan kes setiap tiga bulan
- Gunakan sistem kes digital dan pengesahan dalam talian
- Semak semula peraturan yang membebankan atau mendiskriminasi wanita
- Etika profesional
- Perkukuh mekanisme aduan terhadap peguam dan hakim
- Bentuk tribunal tatakelakuan profesional bagi kehakiman
- Keganasan rumah tangga
- Perluas kaunseling trauma, rumah perlindungan dan talian bantuan 24 jam
- Akui penderaan psikologi, ekonomi dan seksual dalam undang-undang
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- Literasi undang-undang dan kewangan
- Modul literasi kewangan dan hak Syariah dalam kursus pra atau pasca perkahwinan
- Infografik atau video tentang hak pasca perceraian melalui saluran agama
- Perancangan dan pengagihan harta
- Wujudkan garis panduan mengenai hibah, wasiat, wakaf dan wasiyyah
- Laksanakan kempen kesedaran nasional tentang perancangan harta keluarga
Trend perceraian: Penemuan Telenisa 2024
Statistik Telenisa 2024 mendapati tiga punca utama perceraian dalam kalangan wanita Muslim di Malaysia ialah:
- Masalah komunikasi (36 kes)
- Tekanan kewangan dan kesusahan hidup (24 kes)
- Keganasan rumah tangga (20 kes)
Dapatan ini menunjukkan bahawa perceraian bukan sekadar akibat daripada “perbezaan yang tidak dapat didamaikan”, tetapi mencerminkan cabaran struktur yang lebih mendalam.
Masalah komunikasi menuntut kesedaran lebih tinggi tentang kesejahteraan emosi dan psikologi dalam rumah tangga.
Tekanan kewangan pula menonjolkan bagaimana ketidakstabilan ekonomi menjejaskan keluarga – khususnya apabila wanita bergantung kepada suami yang gagal memberikan nafkah secukupnya.
Paling membimbangkan adalah keganasan rumah tangga yang terus menjadi punca utama perceraian, membuktikan masih ramai wanita terpaksa memilih antara keselamatan diri atau meneruskan perkahwinan yang berbahaya.
Sis Forum (Malaysia) menegaskan bahawa isu-isu ini perlu ditangani bukan sahaja di peringkat keluarga, tetapi juga melalui pembaharuan sistemik. Polisi yang menguatkuasakan perintah nafkah, memperluas bantuan guaman, serta memperkukuh sokongan kepada mangsa keganasan amatlah mendesak.
Sistem keadilan yang berteraskan maqasid al-shari‘ah (objektif undang-undang Islam) mestilah mengutamakan kemuliaan insan, keselamatan dan kesejahteraan wanita serta kanak-kanak.
“Keadilan yang tertangguh adalah keadilan yang dinafikan. Untuk setiap kes yang kami rekodkan, masih ramai wanita yang tidak mampu tampil ke hadapan. Reformasi dalam penguatkuasaan, bantuan guaman dan mekanisme perlindungan bukanlah pilihan – ia keperluan mendesak jika kita benar-benar serius tentang keadilan dan belas ihsan dalam sistem Syariah,” ujar Rozana Isa, pengarah eksekutif SIS Forum (Malaysia). – SIS Forum (Malaysia)
English version
Divorce, violence and poverty: Report exposes gaps in justice for women in the family
Women and children continue to suffer from weak enforcement in Malaysia’s Sharia courts, according to the Telenisa 2024 Report recently released by SIS Forum (Malaysia).
The report, based on 188 clients served by SIS’s free legal clinic last year, reveals struggles with child maintenance, divorce, custody and domestic violence.
Telenisa, SIS Forum’s free legal clinic, served 188 clients in 2024, with 92% being women, most from low-income households. Housewives (49), single mothers, and women undergoing divorce proceedings made up a significant portion of clients, many of whom remain financially dependent.
“The struggles faced by our clients show one thing clearly: women and children are paying the price of weak enforcement of maintenance orders and the gaps in our justice system. Without reforms like a child support agency and more concrete and clear processes and procedures of receiving what women and children are entitled to financially, families will continue to suffer in silence,” said Rozana Isa, the executive director of SIS Forum (Malaysia).
Key findings
- Women dominate the client base: 92% of clients were women, most from low-income to middle-income backgrounds
- Child maintenance crisis: 42% of cases are related to nafkah anak (child support). Main reasons: fathers refusing to pay (47%), unemployment (27%) and non-compliance with court orders (9%)
- Marriage and divorce disputes: high number of cases of talaq outside court (16) and unregistered marriages (42) undermines women’s rights
- Custody issues: 23 custody disputes, often linked to unregistered or polygamous marriages
- Violence and abuse: 20 domestic violence cases, seven of sexual violence, one of marital rape, and one of child abuse. Abuse is not only physical but also financial (26 cases) and psychological (23 cases)
- Barriers to justice: Nearly 100 women went unrepresented in court. Some faced unethical lawyers and absent judges, showing systemic weaknesses
Recommendations
- Child support agency
- Create a child support agency in Malaysia to manage payments and enforce compliance
- Set up an interim child support fund for mothers and children awaiting arrears
- Legal services
- Subsidised Sharia legal aid for the bottom 40% income group in every state
- Mobilise more volunteer Sharia lawyers through NGOs and institutions
- Digital info platform on women’s rights and court procedures (multilingual)
- Case resolution
- Timeline for Sharia cases (12–18 months)
- Review cases every three months
- Use of digital case system and online verification
- Review rules that burden or discriminate against women
- Professional ethics
- Strengthen complaint mechanisms against lawyers and judges
- Form a professional conduct tribunal for Sharia judiciary
- Domestic violence
- Expand trauma counselling, shelters, 24-hour helpline
- Include psychological, economic, sexual abuse in laws
- Train frontline officers (mosque officials, police, religious staff)
- Legal and financial literacy
- Modules on financial literacy and Sharia rights in pre and post-marital programmes
- Infographics and videos on post-divorce rights through religious channels
- Estate planning and distribution
- Gazette guidelines on hibah (gifts), wasiat (wills), wakaf (religious endowments or waqf) and wasiyyah (bequests)
- National awareness campaign on family estate planning
Divorce trends from Telenisa 2024 findings
The latest Telenisa 2024 Statistics reveal that the top three reasons for divorce among Muslim women in Malaysia are:
- Breakdown in communication (36 cases)
- Financial stress and hardship (24 cases)
- Domestic violence (20 cases)
These findings highlight that divorce is not simply the result of irreconcilable differences, but often a reflection of deeper structural challenges faced by women in marriage.
Communication breakdown points to the need for greater awareness of emotional and psychological wellbeing within marriage.
Financial struggles show how economic insecurity can strain families, especially where women are dependent on spouses who fail to provide adequate nafkah (maintenance).
Most alarming is the persistence of domestic violence as a driver of divorce, showing that too many women are still forced to choose between safety and staying in a harmful relationship.
SIS Forum (Malaysia) stresses that these issues must be addressed not only within families but also at the systemic level. Policies that enforce maintenance orders, strengthen legal aid access, and expand support services for survivors of violence are urgently needed.
A compassionate justice system, rooted in the maqasid al-shari‘ah (objectives of Islamic law), must prioritise the dignity, safety and wellbeing of women and children.
“Justice delayed is justice denied. For every case we record, there are many more women who cannot come forward. Reforms in enforcement, legal aid and protection mechanisms are not optional – they are essential if we are serious about justice and compassion in our Sharia system,” Rozana said. – SIS Forum (Malaysia)
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