The Malaysian government has apologised after telling women to speak with a cartoon cat voice and avoid nagging their husbands during coronavirus lockdowns, a move that sparked a sexism row.

The women's affairs ministry issued advice on how to avoid domestic conflicts during the partial lockdown, which began on March 18, with a series of online posters with the hashtag translating as #WomenPreventCOVID19.

One of the campaign posters depicted a man sitting on a sofa and asked women to refrain from being "sarcastic" if they needed help with household chores.

Issues faced by women during MCO; feeding your kids, household hygiene, safety, keeping your children productively occupied, domestic abuse.. the list goes on. “stop nagging, use makeup”? No! https://t.co/Zt2kZgEGvz — Yasmin Mahmood (@YasminMahmood88) March 31, 2020

Avoid nagging your husband, another poster said, but use humour or imitate the infantile voice of Doraemon, a blue robot cat from Japan that is hugely popular across Asia.

The ministry also urged women to dress up and wear makeup while working from home.

"We apologise if some of the tips we shared were inappropriate and touched on the sensitivities of some parties," the ministry's women development department said in a statement.

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The apology came after the online posters sparked a public outcry. The posters have since been removed.

"(It) is extremely condescending both to women and men," said Nisha Sabanayagam, a manager at All Women's Action Society, a Malaysian advocacy group.

"These posters promote the concept of gender inequality and perpetuate the concept of patriarchy," she said.

A government hotline that helps domestic abuse victims and vulnerable children has received nearly 2000 calls - more than doubled the usual numbers - since the start of the partial lockdown, local media reported.

"How did we go from preventing baby dumping, fighting domestic violence to some sad variant of the Obedient Wives Club?" Twitter user yinshaoloong wrote before the apology.

Avoid wearing home clothes. Dress up as usual, put on make-up and dress neatly. OMG! This is what Rina, our Minister of Women, Family & Community Development thinks is important during the #COVID19 lockdown? No tips on how to deal with #DomesticViolence? Just state DV is a crime. pic.twitter.com/FfswtPBIPH — Honey Tan (@honeyean) March 31, 2020

"No tips on how to deal with domestic violence?" asked another user.

Women's groups have warned lockdowns could result in a rise in domestic violence, with women trapped with their abusers.

Some governments have stepped up in response, including in France which offers hotel rooms to victims.