Malaysia, Indonesia top global poll on ‘obedient’ wives

South China Morning Post Social JusticeNews ReportEN 1 min read 100% complete by Kolette LimMarch 23, 2026 at 03:30 AM

AI Summary

short article 1 min

A recent global study by Ipsos and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership found that Indonesia and Malaysia have the highest proportions of respondents agreeing with traditional views on women's roles. The survey, conducted in December and January across 29 countries with over 23,000 participants, revealed that 66% of Indonesian and 60% of Malaysian respondents believe a wife should always obey her husband. Similarly, 67% of Indonesians and 58% of Malaysians agreed that husbands should have the final say in key household decisions. The study, released on March 5th for International Women's Day, suggests that efforts to narrow the gender gap in these Southeast Asian nations may be facing challenges due to deeply rooted cultural norms and customs. A Malaysian researcher noted the complexities of comparing Eastern and Western gender attitudes.

Article Analysis

Framing Angle

Social Justice

Primary framing

Human Rights

Secondary framing

Measured

Sensationalism

Factual

Fact vs Opinion

OpinionFactual

Sources Cited

Limited sources

AI-powered analysis of article framing, tone, and source quality. Scores help identify potential bias and information quality.

Key Claims (5)

AI-Extracted

58% of Malaysian respondents agreed husbands should have the final word on key decisions.

statistic — Ipsos and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership100% confidence

67% of Indonesian respondents agreed husbands should have the final word on key decisions.

statistic — Ipsos and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership100% confidence

60% of Malaysian respondents agreed that 'a wife should always obey her husband'.

statistic — Ipsos and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership100% confidence

66% of Indonesian respondents agreed that 'a wife should always obey her husband'.

statistic — Ipsos and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership100% confidence

Indonesia and Malaysia have deep-rooted Eastern cultural norms and customs.

quote — Mohd Faizal Musa90% confidence

Claims are automatically extracted and should be independently verified. Attribution indicates the stated source of the claim.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Singapore 40% Brazil 40% United Kingdom 40% United States 40% India 40% National University of Malaysia 50% King’s College London 60% Global Institute for Women’s Leadership 70% Ipsos 70% Mohd Faizal Musa 70% Indonesia ×590% Malaysia ×490%

Keywords

gender roles 90% obedient wives 80% malaysia 70% indonesia 70% traditional views 60% gender gap 60% global study 50% cultural norms 50% women's leadership 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative

Score: -0.30

Source Transparency

Source

South China Morning Post

Article Type

News Report

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

Malaysia

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis.

Topic Connections

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

Network visualization showing 51 related topics

View Full Graph

gender roles obedient wives malaysia indonesia traditional views gender gap global study cultural norms women's leadership

Explore Full Topic Graph

Find Similar Articles

AI-Powered

Discover articles with similar content using semantic similarity analysis.