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The Star

A woman who wanted to lodge a report after a traffic accident was barred from entering the Jasin police headquarters in Malaysia’s Melaka state due to a dress code violation, according to police.
Melaka police chief Deputy Commissioner Dzulkhairi Mukhtar said an internal inquiry was held after the matter was brought to light.
“We confirm the incident involving a woman being not allowed to enter to make a report due to non-compliance with the dress code for government premises as per a government circular,” he said on Tuesday.
Dzulkhairi said two women arrived at about 5pm on Monday to lodge a report after being involved in a traffic accident in which neither was injured.
“The officer requested that they go back and change into a more suitable attire first,” he added.
The officer said the older woman returned at about 5.40pm.
“Once dressed in attire deemed appropriate, the woman was allowed to proceed with lodging the report,” Dzulkhairi said.
Reminding the public of the dress code, Dzulkhairi said the only exceptions were for emergency cases or situations requiring immediate action.
The woman concerned was reported to have told a media outlet that she and her daughter were on their way to Kuala Lumpur from Johor when their car was hit from behind on the North-South Expressway.
She said they went over to the Jasin police headquarters to lodge a report, but upon arrival, an officer barred them from entering because their skirts were above the knee.
The woman said she pleaded for an exception but was told to buy trousers to enter, which she did at a nearby shopping centre.
Separately, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo said the police should not deny anyone their right to lodge a report or report an incident based on their attire.
Gobind urged the inspector general of police to issue a clear directive to all police stations nationwide, ensuring no victim or complainant seeking to report an accident or crime is denied their rights based on clothing.
“People don’t dress up in anticipation of crime. It cannot therefore be the basis for deciding whether or not a person can or cannot in law lodge reports.
“What is important is that an incident has occurred which needs to be reported and action needs to be taken to deal with it without delay,” he said in a statement.
Gobind said he would raise the matter with Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and request a review of all existing guidelines that may deny public access to police stations for lodging reports or investigations.
He emphasised that authorities must ensure all police stations remain accessible at all times for lodging police reports.
“We must ensure incidents like these do not happen again,” he added.
This story was first published by The Star


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A minister has urged a review of guidelines on attire following the incident, saying ‘people don’t dress up in anticipation of crime’


A minister has urged a review of guidelines on attire following the incident, saying ‘people don’t dress up in anticipation of crime’.


Women and gender

Malaysian woman barred from police station over skirt length, forced to buy trousers

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A minister has urged a review of guidelines on attire following the incident, saying ‘people don’t dress up in anticipation of crime’

A minister has urged a review of guidelines on attire following the incident, saying ‘people don’t dress up in anticipation of crime’