KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 -- In Malaysia, women have said the fear of not being believed was one reason why they did not tell the authorities about the physical and online sexual violence against them, a newly-released report on a nationwide study has found.

This study, which was commissioned by advocacy group SIS Forum (Malaysia) and financially supported by the European Union, had examined whether Malaysian women had bodily autonomy or the right to make decisions about their own body without coercion, discrimination and violence.

The bodily autonomy survey is the country's first-ever nationally-representative study, as the profile of the female respondents matches Malaysia's demographics for women, in terms of factors such as age, ethnici...