http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/2/17/nation/16912713&sec=nation

Shocked groups slam chastity belt for women proposal
The Star, 17 February 2007

By JANE RITIKOS and MAJDAH MUHAMAD

KUALA LUMPUR: No, no, no. That's the response to the chastity belt for women mooted by Islamic scholar Datuk Abu Hassan Din. 

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said the Government had no intention of considering the proposal. 

“It is up to the individual. Women or men could wear it if they feel it is for their best protection but it is not a policy issue,” she told reporters in Kota Baru yesterday. 

Abu Hassan, speaking at a Maal Hijrah forum in Kuala Terengganu on Thursday said women should wear chastity belts to thwart rising cases of rape and incest, adding that the chastity belt was the best way to avert sexual predators.  

Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin said he was “quite surprised” when he read about the proposal. 

Islam, he said, had spelt out what women should do to protect themselves against danger and to protect their modesty.  

“Have we come to such a stage that women need to wear chastity belts?” he asked. 

“I urge all religious figures not to make suggestions that can appear to discriminate women and which make people think the religion as undermining women,” he said. 

Women's Aid Organisation executive director Ivy Josiah said it still amazed her when people showed their ignorance about why men commit sexual violence against women. 

“It is always the women who are expected to modify themselves and their appearance and, now, even to inflict pain on themselves by wearing chastity belts,” she said.  

Amnesty International said it was appalled by the suggestion.  

“It is unacceptable and violates a women's dignity and her physical and mental integrity,” its executive director Josef Roy Benedict said. 

Sisters in Islam (SIS) said Abu Hassan had acknowledged that not all men were potential rapists.  

“Thus, would it not make sense to raise awareness among men and educate them on how to prevent violence against women rather than blame and control all women for the behaviour of certain men?” the group asked. 

SIS said as Malaysians approach 50 years of independence, they should be proud of the high standard they had set for themselves, “but not of the double standard set against half the population.”