A country level study of women's well being and domestic\ud Violence against women.\ud

The World Health Organization (WHO) and member countries, through the World Health Assembly Resolution 49.25, acknowledged violence against women as a serious public health issue. It is also a serious social issue and a "shameful" violation of human rights. However, many countries, particularly those in the developing world, still lack good, comparable, national data on violence\ud against women. In Malaysia, there is "a dearth of comparable data", on the prevalence, nature, causes\ud and consequences of violence (WHO 2005, 3). To fill the gap in the data, a country level study has just been conducted in Malaysia using the WHO multi-country questionnaire which was adapted and validated. "A country level study of women's well-being and domestic violence against women" is the first country wide prevalence study to provide comparable data on the status of gender based violence\ud against women in Malaysia as well as on their general well-being involving the three major ethnic groups in the country. The objective of this study is togather valid estimates of the prevalence and frequency of different forms of violence against women and to emphasis on the importance of conducting national research on domestic violence against women. It will also draw attention to the\ud importance of building knowledge about domestic violence against women and its prevention to support and inform national efforts to create a safer society for girls and women. In this quantitative study, the cross-sectional population-based household survey approach was utilised, involving 3391 women from Peninsular Malaysia. The data were analysed using Epidata and SPSS software. From this study, it has shown that the prevalence of domestic violence in Malaysia was 9.00/0 for any type of violence and for emotional violence was 7.8%, followed by physical violence 5.0% and sexual.\ud \ud Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO) dan ahli sekutu melalui Resolusi Himpunan Kesihatan Sedunia 49.25 mengenalpasti bahawa keganasan terhadap wanita adalah isu kesihatan awam yang serius. Ia juga merupakan isu sosial yang serius dan penindasan terhadap hak kemanusian yang amat memalukan.\ud Walaubagaimanapun masih terdapat banyak negara, terutama negara yang sedang membangun masih kekurangan data untuk dibuat perbandingan berhubung isu ini. Oi Malaysia, tiada data untuk dibuat perbandingan baik dari segi prevalens, keadaan, sebab dan akibat keganasan (WHO, 2005,3). Bagi\ud mengisi jurang tersebut, kajian tahap negara telah dijalankan di Malaysia dengan menggunakan borang\ud soal selidik pelbagai negara Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO). Kajian "A country level study of women's well-being and domestic violence against women" adalah kajian prevalens pertama yang menyediakan data perbandingan bagi keganasan terhadap wanita di Malaysia yang melibatkan 3\ud kumpulan etnik di negara ini.Objektif utama kajian ini adalah untuk mengumpul data prevalens dan juga\ud frekuensi bentuk keganasan terhadap wanita yang berbeza dan menekankan kepada kepentingan menjalankan kajian kebangsaan bagi keganasan terhadap wanita. Ia juga mendapat perhatian keatas kepentingan pembangunan dan perkembangan pengetahuan berhubung isu keganasan terhadap wanita\ud dan intervensi bagi menyokong dan memaklumkan kepada masyarakat bagi membentuk masyarakat yang selamat untuk wanita dan kanak-kanak perempuan. Kajian kuantitaif ini telah menggunakan pendekatan kajian isi rumah yang melibatkan seramai 3391 wanita dari Semenanjung Malaysia. Data telah dianalisis dengan menggunakan perisian Epidata dan SPSS.Dapatan dari kajian ini menunjukkan kadar prevalens bagi keganasan terhadap wanita di Malaysia adalah 9.0% bagi semua jenis keganasan dan keganasan