KUALA LUMPUR: A women’s rights group has renewed calls to expand the law so that protection for domestic violence victims is based on risk and harm, not marital status.
The Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) said although amendments in 2017 expanded protection to former spouses and introduced emergency protection orders, the Domestic Violence Act 1994 still does not explicitly include unmarried partners such as current or former dating partners, fiancés, and live-in partners.
“The problem that we are trying to solve here is that survivors in non-marital intimate relationships are unable to access protection orders under the Act,” said WAO senior advocacy officer Zati Zainol at the NGO’s launch of its 2026 report today.