SINGAPORE: More might be finished to guard ladies towards household violence, together with providing them the choice of being instantly moved to a secure area, if frontline responders assess that there’s a menace of violence.
Law and Home Affairs Minister Ok Shanmugam mentioned this in Parliament on Tuesday (Apr 5) throughout a debate on a White Paper on ladies’s growth.
He famous that this was one of many 16 suggestions, earlier proposed by a activity pressure on household violence, which the Government has accepted.
Outlining a “common situation”, he gave the instance of how an indignant husband could threaten violence at residence, inflicting the lady to concern for her security.
But if the police flip up at that time, “nothing much can be done” if there has not been any violence or an imminent menace of violence.
The husband may also deny that he was going to get bodily, and the lady and her youngsters must keep in the identical flat “in fear”, he mentioned.
When the brand new suggestion is carried out, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) will reply, and assess if the state of affairs is severe.
“If there has been violence, it may proceed as a criminal case. If there is no actual violence, but there is a significant threat of violence, the wife may be offered the option of being moved to a safe space, depending on the facts.”
It might be her option to go to the secure area instantly, alongside together with her youngsters, even when there isn’t any prison offence, mentioned Mr Shanmugam. “(She can) then consider her next steps, instead of facing the threat of violence.”
She may additionally be moved to a short lived shelter association whereas understanding longer-term interventions.
“(This) gives the parties the opportunity to cool down, provides an opportunity for reconciliation, and you really don’t want every such situation to end up in the matrimonial courts,” mentioned Mr Shanmugam.
OTHER MOVES TO PROTECT WOMEN
In addition, sure folks – such because the Director-General of Social Welfare – might be empowered to use for private safety orders (PPO) on behalf of these in danger in some conditions, he mentioned.
He cited an instance of a girl who had been abused by her son for years, however didn’t wish to report him.
“This will be very resource-intensive, and therefore it will take time to implement. Members can see, however, what we hope to achieve.”
The adjustments would be the newest in a collection of efforts over time to higher shield ladies from violence.
Mr Shanmugam famous that the Penal Code was amended in 2019 to cope with sexual crimes utilizing expertise, whereas marital immunity for rape was repealed. The Protection from Harassment Act was additionally amended to reinforce the safety of victims.
Last 12 months, the penalties for 3 sexual offences, together with outage of modesty, had been elevated – and these got here into pressure final month.
“SIGNIFICANT PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT” OF THE WHITE PAPER
Mr Shanmugam additionally mentioned that ingraining gender equality in Singapore’s tradition remains to be a “work in progress”.
But conversations resulting in the White Paper, and the publication itself, have had a “significant psychological impact and moved us further along the path”, he mentioned.
“How many will dare, in a combined group of right-thinking folks … to say, women and men shouldn’t be equal?
“It’s an achievement that – no matter no matter one could personally suppose – if folks realise that expressing a opposite view can be towards social norms, which means folks perceive what the norms are. That is necessary.
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“So you must not underestimate the power of such collective norm-building. The conversations and the White Paper have helped a fair bit in this process.”
He added that although the state of affairs in Singapore could seem to be “the natural order of things”, it’s not.
Citing a number of allegations concerning the mistreatment of girls in Australia’s parliament final 12 months, he mentioned this is able to have been “quite unthinkable” in Singapore.
He additionally famous that in Malaysia final 12 months, a ministry had posted recommendation for wives to make sure a harmonious family – together with mimicking the voice of Japanese cartoon character, Doraemon, when talking to their husbands.
This 12 months, that similar Malaysian ministry suggested husbands to strike their wives “gently” to self-discipline them if they didn’t cease “unruly” behaviour, he famous.
“(Our path) has led us to a very different place, in terms of how in Singapore we view women and what we consider acceptable to say to women about how they should behave. And the White Paper pushes us further along that road.”
ONLINE HARMS
MPs additionally spoke about defending ladies from hurt within the digital world – stressing the necessity to bridge a “digital safety gap” for them.
Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and National Development Sim Ann shared an anecdote about how a journalist was harassed after her private particulars had been posted on-line and she or he was falsely profiled as a intercourse employee.
“If left unchecked, online harms that promote exploitative and disrespectful attitudes towards women and girls may discourage women from being active online,” she mentioned.
It may additionally cause them to keep away from significant undertakings in actual life, similar to management roles, because it may elevate the possibilities of “encountering haters who wield online harms as a weapon”.
Ms Sim added that an Alliance for Action (AfA) tackling on-line harms will quickly roll out extra initiatives to construct a “more holistic system” of assist – together with a pilot to supply counselling intervention for victims.
The name for efficient options to on-line harms was echoed by Ms Rahayu Mazam, Parliamentary Secretary for Health, and Communications and Information.
She cited a research commissioned by the AfA in January 2022, which discovered that 43 per cent of respondents thought of “stricter enforcement of relevant laws” to be the best answer to cut back gender-based on-line harms, she mentioned.
“In addition, respondents (in the study) felt that companies and platforms have the most room for improvement in tackling the issue.”
In line with this need, the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) lately introduced the introduction of “codes of practice” to enhance on-line security, she mentioned.
This consists of minimising publicity to dangerous content material, empowering customers to report and stop the additional unfold of dangerous content material, and guaranteeing on-line platforms stay accountable for his or her measures and processes to maintain customers secure.
“As MCI develops these Codes of Practice, we will consult community stakeholders, including AfA members, to ensure efforts to nurture a safe online environment are tailored to meet the needs of Singaporeans.”
Source : channelnewsasia.com
