Zinaphobia: Our Love-Hate Relationship With Sex

By Nurul Fadiah Johari _ We live in a society that loves and hates sex at the same time. We love, desire and want to possess it, and yet, we loathe, fear and reject it all the same. And we would do what it takes to assuage our own insecurities towards it, especially through the…

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Not Muslim Enough

by Marina Rosli _ For most of my life, Islam felt like conditional love: I had no right to call myself a Muslim (nor would others call me one) because I hardly prayed, am not too concerned about halal food, constantly challenged longstanding interpretations of the religion and questioned the existence and validity of certain…

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A Story of How She Died

by Raudah Abdul Rashid _ [content warning for partner abuse and violence] Her name was *Siti Ainun. This is a story of how she died. Siti was a 20-year old woman who learnt from a young age to be independent, to rely on herself. As a quiet child growing up amongst siblings and step-siblings, Siti…

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My Mother was Abused by my Father, but Everyone Around Allowed it to Happen

By Ayla Suraya __ (Content Warning for Partner Violence and descriptions of abuse) My mother’s experience of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) or domestic violence has definitely had an impact on me. Growing up, my mother would share problems that she should have confided in her spouse or a therapist and my parents’ marriage was the…

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Domestic Abuse for People of Faith

by Aliyyah Zubair __ (Content Warning for Partner Violence and descriptions of abuse) An abusive marriage/situation sucks, no matter with who and how it happens. But as believers, there’s that added dimension of our faith and spirituality that can make things that little bit more tricky. I cannot count the number of times warning bells set…

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“No Mother Would Leave Her Own Children Unless It Was past Every Point of Desperation.”

by Sue _ (content warning: partner violence & marital rape) When people think of domestic abuse, they usually think of its most explicit manifestations. It’s physical. It’s loud. There’s glass breaking, slaps landing, and eyes turning blue from a bruise. It is, in a word, dramatic. The kind we see in TV dramas, movies, and…

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