KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — A comprehensive, survivor-centric approach to addressing violence against women is urgently needed, following the recent shooting incident at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) 1 Terminal recently.

The Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO), in a statement tonight, said it must also include an approach that encompasses preventive measures, enhanced victim support services and robust legal enforcement.

"Nationwide campaigns, legal reforms and enhanced survivor support mechanisms to prevent violence against women must remain a top priority, aimed at addressing the root causes of violence against women.

"Survivor-centric services, including counseling, legal assistance and shelter provisions must be made available to survivors to ensure their safety and well-being,” the statement read.

WAO reiterated that violence against women as well as gender-based violence are grave violations of human rights and are barriers to achieving gender equality and social justice.

As such, WAO conveyed its willingness to work closely with the National Domestic Violence Committee, set up by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, along with relevant stakeholders, towards creating a society where every woman can live free from violence and fear.

In the 1.30 am shooting incident on April 14, a man fired two shots at his wife at the entrance of the arrival hall but missed and one of the shots hit her bodyguard in the abdomen.

The man who was arrested yesterday over the incident has been remanded for seven days. — Bernama