A CAMPAIGN to make marital rape a crime is gathering steam on
the Internet. More than 1,000 people have signed a petition that
will be handed to the Prime Minister.
The organisers of the 'No To Rape' campaign - three young
professionals - are asking the Government to abolish a
controversial law that grants immunity to husbands who force their
wives to have sex with them.
Signatories of the petition launched on July 1 include former
Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong , law academic Chan Wing Cheong,
playwright Ovidia Yu and TV host Anita Kapoor.
The issue was a hot topic in and out of Parliament when the
Penal Code came under review two years ago. MPs and civil society
groups had called for the exemption to be thrown out. The statute,
handed down from colonial days, was tweaked then to offer some
protection to a married woman under certain circumstances, such as
when she has applied for divorce or a personal protection
order.
But that was clearly not enough for the organisers. 'The reason
we're seeking a change in law is that the current provisions are
inadequate,' said Ms Wong Pei Chi, 25, a bank officer and one of
the organisers. She said any rape is a physical assault.
Since the legal review two years ago, Ms Wong and two friends -
Ms Jolene Tan, 26, a charity fund-raiser based in Britain, and Mr
Mark Wong, 28, a freelance designer - began to research the topic
and put the campaign together. They have since launched a website,
notorape.com, started a Facebook group and are on Twitter.
In their research, the trio found that while there are no
statistics on marital rape cases in Singapore, police figures
showed that in an overwhelming majority of rapes, the victims knew
the attackers. The number of legal protection orders taken up here
- 2,500 in 2007 - also suggested marital rape could be an
issue.
One victim, a mother of three, said she had no recourse during
her 12-year marriage, which ended in 1997 when she walked out. 'I
hope the law can be changed to protect all women,' said the
57-year-old secretary, who declined to be named.
Ms Kerry Wilcock, manager of direct services at women's welfare
organisation the Association of Women for Action and Research
(Aware), said many women here are unfamiliar with their rights and
do not usually seek help for marital rape.
She has seen only one case recently - a Chinese national in her
30s married to a Singaporean man who sexually abused her every
night. 'The authorities see rape as a seizable offence only after
physical violence has happened in a marriage. That's the problem
now,' said Ms Wilcock.
--ST