Wearing Sanitary Pads on Their Mouths for "Absorbent Silence": Outrage in Malaysia over Controversial Protest

Sanitary Pads Used in Malaysian Political Protest
"Misogyny"... Women's Groups Voice Strong Opposition

Male members of a political party in Malaysia sparked controversy after staging a political protest with sanitary pads attached to their mouths. Women's organizations strongly objected, stating that "using sanitary pads as a tool for political mockery trivializes and ridicules women."

On the 3rd, about 50 members of the Democratic Action Party in Malaysia held a "sanitary pad protest" at the Negeri Sembilan state assembly, opposing the appointment of Vincent Woo Him Ben, a member from Johor state. MalaysiaKini SNS

According to reports from international media outlets such as the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on August 5, dozens of male members from the Negeri Sembilan branch of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), Malaysia's largest opposition party, recently staged a performance to denounce internal party appointments. In protest against the appointment of an external figure as a senator, they held a silent demonstration with sanitary pads attached to their mouths. The participants claimed the performance symbolized "silence as thick and absorbent as a sanitary pad," but it immediately faced a strong backlash.

Both within the DAP and among women's groups in Malaysia, the protest was harshly criticized as a "regressive act" that revealed a lack of understanding and insensitivity toward women. The DAP Women's Committee issued a statement strongly condemning the protest, saying, "Sanitary pads are essential items directly linked to women's physical and social daily lives, and using them as a tool for political mockery is an act that trivializes women's lives."

Theo Ni Ching, head of the DAP Women's Committee, criticized the protest by saying, "There are many female students in Malaysia who miss school because they cannot afford to buy sanitary pads," and added, "In such circumstances, male politicians wasting a large quantity of sanitary pads merely as props for a performance is an irresponsible act that ignores social realities." In fact, a survey by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) found that a significant number of female students aged 13 to 17 face financial difficulties in purchasing menstrual products.

The All Women's Action Society (AWAM) also condemned the incident as an "irrational and regressive performance," stating, "Using women's products as tools for political mockery is a clear act of misogyny."