Crisis in the Classroom: Malaysian Femicides, Culture, and Radicalisation
- Hitesh M.
- Nov 30, 2025
- 5 min read
Femicide: the intentional killing of women and girls on the basis of gender, reflecting the most extreme form of gender-based violence. These patterns of violence reflect a larger trend in the world that is increasingly permeating the public school sphere in Malaysia, where violence amongst young boys and against women or girls has become normative and unfortunately normalised.
2nd October – Senawang.
10th October – Rembau.
11th October – Alor Gajah.
14th October – Bandar Utama.
16th October – Baling.
These dates are just to name a few cases of violence in Malaysian schools in October alone, four of which were committed against young girls. The recent rise of violence in our public schools sent shockwaves throughout the country, catalysing a thorough inquiry as to why violence has permeated our schools among our youth.
Ministerial Misogyny
The culture in Malaysia with regard to (dare I say against) women is a deeply archaic one. Let’s take our Malaysian ministers and MPs as an example. In 2007, Kinabatangan MP Datuk Bong Mokhtar Radin equated the leaking roof of the Dewan Rakyat’s chamber to women’s menstruation. Amidst the global pandemic in 2020, the Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Rina Harun, advised Malaysian women to wear makeup while working at home, speak to their husbands in a Doraemon voice, and giggle coyly. This year, Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat Tan Sri Dato' Johari Abdul remarked that the Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek’s voice sounded ‘sexy’ as she spoke too close to the mic in the Dewan Rakyat.
The point here is simple: if we can’t expect our lawmakers to be better, how do we then turn to our youth and expect them to do better? What should be the standard for respect, decorum, and accountability has now become symptomatic of the broader normalization of sexism in governance. — Hitesh M.
The 'Red Pill': Manufactured, Misogynistic Medication.
‘Red pill’ content involving heavily masculinized and violent rhetoric is also seen to be the driving factor of femicide in Malaysia, including elsewhere in the world. These instances of violence unfolding in Malaysia mark a jarring parallel to Netflix’s Adolescence, which follows a young British boy who murders his female classmate as a result of being sucked into what people brand the ‘manosphere’.
The ‘manosphere’ is a term us Gen Z are not unfamiliar with, and the most common face attached to it is the infamous influencer Andrew Tate, who needs no explanation (nor deserves one). In Malaysia, one could say we’ve got a Mydin version of Tate: an influencer by the name of Danial Mirza, or more commonly known as DMA Islam. A glance at Mirza’s page is sufficient to clear one’s doubts about his mass-scale peddling of chauvinistic ideology. On a recent podcast, he claimed that women are bound by two roles in the household: house chores and having sex with their husbands. As per his Instagram bio, he’s “Turning misogynistic energy into endless pursuit of excellence”, whatever he means by that. A clear commodification of misogyny, ‘red pill’ content capitalises on the insecurities of young men and repurposes them for the patriarchy’s benefit. At a grassroots level, this vile rhetoric needs to be stamped out and barred from permeating the Malaysian cyberspace and corrupting our youth.
We don’t need to import misogyny; we manufacture enough of it ourselves. — Hitesh M.
Some Solutions.
The Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) has made several proposals to address this pressing issue. These include establishing coordinated national data systems on gender-based and child-targeted violence to improve monitoring and policy interventions, as well as requiring each relevant ministry to appoint dedicated gender and child-protection focal points to ensure timely, survivor-centred, and trauma-informed responses. SUHAKAM further calls for stronger anti-bullying and anti-harassment policies, confidential reporting mechanisms, and comprehensive education on gender equality, respect, and consent across all institutions. Additionally, it urges the media and the public to uphold ethical reporting standards by refraining from publishing or circulating any material that could identify children involved in criminal or sensitive cases, thereby safeguarding their dignity and safety.
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek proposed a new subject to be introduced in public schools: Pendidikan Karakter (Character Education). Whilst seeming to address the issue of violence and misbehavior, this proposal is barely a band-aid reactionary response and rather a strain on teachers in the public sector who already teach Pendidikan Moral, creating redundancy. Another response from the Ministry of Education is the establishment of two-teacher classrooms, one for curriculum education and the other for character education. Again, need it be said that teachers in the public sector are already swamped with 30 to 40 students in one class, hence doubling up on the staff-to-student ratio barely fixes the issue at hand, and adds to the strain on teachers.
What we’re seeing here is refusal. Refusal to address and accept that violence amongst our youth, especially young boys, is fed by the rise in misogynistic attitudes in our youth. Without fully acknowledging how online radicalisation, misogynistic content creators, and gender-hostile social norms are shaping the behaviours of young boys, any policy response merely treats the symptoms rather than the cause.
Ain Husniza, a youth activist for school safety and youth welfare from UNM, urges that there needs to be a strengthening of anti-bullying and anti-harassment laws to ensure our students are protected in schools, and that they don’t become breeding grounds for bullies to thrive. She also emphasises a comprehensive psychosocial curriculum to be implemented in schools and to incorporate social-emotional learning practices to safeguard the emotional well-being of students and teachers.
These solutions, however, shouldn’t stop at the federal level, but rather be a catalyst for change within the home. Parents and guardians should take more responsibility in ensuring that children’s mental health is in check, and that a safe environment is fostered at home for open dialogue and empathy. More crucially, parents should monitor children’s media consumption at home and ensure they aren’t pulled into the realm of ‘red pill’ content, which plagues kids at a very young and susceptible age. Should we fail to do either of these, we risk normalising a cycle of harm that begins in childhood to perpetuate a society of emotional suppression and apathy. The recent cases should be taken as a signal of the change that we can bring, but also a warning of the consequences of complacency.
Further Reading/References:
Writer's Notes:
I wouldn’t say I had an inspiration for this article, and being inspired with news as bleak as femicides would be extremely sobering. As a university student and as someone who left the public school system when I was 13, the normalised violence right now and casual misogyny scares me, especially if it’s left unchecked. Though brief, I really wanted to place some spotlight on how our domestic politics is inundated with sexism, and thus looking solely towards policies and politicians for solutions is and always will be insufficient. People saying that we need to bring back standardised testing and caning in schools have clearly missed the point, punishment and austerity is pointless without thoughtful education. I hope this piece helps us to better reflect on how we as young people can do better to change this mindset even if on an interpersonal level.
Comments