Men join 700 participants in walk to stop violence against women

Participants of the walk carrying banners and placards as they walked from Jalan Gasing to Universiti Malaya last Sunday.

PARTICIPANTS of the Walk the Talk – Stop Violence Against Women event turned many heads as they marched in solidarity along Jalan Gasing to Universiti Malaya last Sunday.

The 700 ‘walkers’ from various corporate organisations and NGOs participated in the 4km walk organised by the Soroptimist International Region of Malaysia (Sirom).

In line with the theme ‘Men on Board’ to get the men to support and advocate the cause, a large number of the participants were men.

Event advisor Puan Sri Siew Yong Gnanalingam said she was glad to see the participation of young men.

Lam (left), Universiti Malaya vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Amin Jalaluddin, (second from left), Gnanalingam and Bukit Aman’s Department of Crime Prevention and Community Safety (JPJKK) director Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani (right).

“I hope you will continue to champion this cause after this walk to ensure no violence against women happens in your family, among friends and in your neighbourhood,” she told the participants, especially the men, during her speech.

Gnanalingam, who is also Soroptimist International South-West Pacific Federation (SISWPF) immediate past president, said the it was the third time they were organising the walk.

“The idea to include men stemmed from requests by some of them who were barred from last year’s forum on the same topic organised with Amanita, a government initiative where women are roped in to help promote neighbourhood safety.

“They wanted to support the cause, so I promised them an event that included them as well,” she added.

Khairy playing with a football as the opening gambit to the forum.

The excited participants congregated at 7am at the starting point in Taman Jaya to register before starting the fun walk that ended at Dewan Chancellor Universiti Malaya.

Also there to provide some glamour to the event were 20 vintage cars courtesy of the Malaysia and Singapore Vintage Car Register (MSVCR).

Vice-president Datuk Noorul Ariffin Abdul Majeed said the team was proud to help advocate awareness on ending violence against women.

“Many women keep silent about the abuse. They should speak up and lodge reports.

“Similarly, neighbours should help alert the authorities if they hear anything suspicious instead of ignoring it,” he added.

Twenty vintage cars joined the walk, courtesy of the Malaysia and Singapore Vintage Car Register (MSVCR).

Spotted at the event were Soroptimist International (SI) Malacca branch members who started off as early as 6am to join the run.

SI Malacca pro tem president Yling Lim said they wanted to support the efforts of their SI fellows in Kuala Lumpur.

She said they were also organising a similar event in Malacca soon.

Participants later attended a forum titled “Violence Against Women - the Men’s Perspective” with distinguished male panelists, to help everyone understand the issue better.

SIROM president Nora S.W. Lam said the event was timely since there were cases of violence against women almost every day.

A 60 piece band from the Catholic High School led the walkers.

“Soroptimist want all communities to rally with us and fight for basic human rights. It is not about being masculine, it is about being human,” she said.

Also present at the forum was Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin who applauded the efforts to bring men, particularly the younger generation, on board for the campaign.

Khairy quoted last year’s statistics from Women’s Aid Organisation citing one out of three women had been abused while 70% of the offenders were from abusive families.

“Abuse is two ways, you have the victim and you have the abuser, you cannot solve the problem if you do not address the other half of the equation,” he said.