In response to the adoption of such discriminatory laws, women's rights organizations began to publicly address issues of gender equality. In 1985, the Joint Action Group, a broad coalition of women's organizations, declared domestic violence a social concern in Malaysia and sought to pass legislation that would put an end to this abuse.[3] Zainah Anwar, an active member of the JAG campaign, discovered that the general discourse on women's rights blamed Islam for Malaysia's gender rights inequality. While many women's rights groups believed that Islam had created the problem, Anwar argued that it was the patriarchal interpretation of Islam that caused injustices against women. It was this principle upon which Anwar founded Sisters in Islam in 1988.