Singapore Women's Charter: Roles, Responsibilities and Rights in Marriage

5. "The Morning After": Understanding and Exploring the Psychosocial Impact of the Women's Charter on Familiies Experiencing Domestic Violence

5 “The฀Morning฀After”:฀ Understanding฀and฀Exploring฀ the฀Psychosocial฀Impact฀฀ of฀the฀Women’s฀Charter฀฀ on฀Families฀Experiencing฀ Domestic฀Violence Sudha฀Nair Introduction Family฀ violence฀ is฀ a฀ complex฀ issue฀ relating฀ to฀ the฀ ฀ breakdown฀ of฀ an฀ intimate฀ relationship.฀ Former฀ Senior฀ District฀Judge฀Richard฀Magnus฀(2003)฀recognizes฀family฀ violence฀as: …฀a฀complex฀criminal฀offence฀that฀has฀the฀seriousness฀ of฀a฀stranger-to-stranger฀crime฀but฀involves฀a฀victim฀ and฀a฀perpetrator฀who฀know฀and฀care฀for฀one฀another.฀ A฀person฀subject฀to฀family฀violence฀in฀the฀home฀is฀no฀ less฀a฀victim฀than฀a฀person฀beaten฀on฀the฀sidewalk฀in฀ front฀of฀the฀home.฀The฀law฀does฀not฀stop฀at฀the฀front฀ door฀of฀the฀family฀home.฀ 05฀SWC.indd฀฀฀147 1/24/11฀฀฀2:46:03฀PM 148฀ Sudha฀Nair In฀the฀last฀fourteen฀years,฀the฀amendments฀to฀the฀Singapore฀ Women’s฀ Charter฀ have฀ tightened฀ the฀ law฀ to฀ accord฀ not฀ only฀more฀protection฀for฀victims,฀but฀also฀help฀for฀families฀ through฀the฀provision฀of฀counselling฀orders.฀At฀the฀same฀ time,฀there฀have฀been฀efforts฀to฀increase฀public฀awareness฀ and฀interagency฀networking฀initiatives฀at฀the฀macro฀level฀ to฀address฀this฀problem.฀ In฀ situations฀ of฀ family฀ violence,฀ the฀ perpetrators฀ of฀ violence฀find฀themselves฀in฀a฀peculiar฀and฀contradictory฀ situation.฀In฀the฀aftermath฀of฀the฀violent฀act,฀the฀perpetrators ,฀seeing฀the฀outcome฀of฀the฀violence,฀are฀forced฀to฀ confront฀the฀truth฀of฀their฀vicious฀nature.฀However,฀they฀ invariably฀cannot฀accept฀it฀and฀end฀up฀dismissing฀it.฀They฀ are฀unable฀to฀make฀sense฀of฀their฀violence฀and฀to฀place฀ it฀in฀terms฀of฀a฀reality฀they฀can฀live฀with฀(Eisikovits฀and฀ Buchbinder฀2000). Contrary฀ to฀ the฀ popular฀ notion฀ that฀ family฀ violence฀ ฀ ends฀ in฀ the฀ break-up฀ of฀ marriages,฀ most฀ couples฀ in฀ a฀ violent฀ relationship฀ in฀ Singapore฀ have฀ been฀ found฀ to฀ want฀to฀save฀their฀marriages.฀An฀evaluation฀study฀of฀the฀ ฀ Mandatory฀ Counselling฀ Programme฀ commissioned฀ by฀ the฀ Ministry฀ of฀ Community฀ Development,฀ Youth฀ and฀ ฀ Sports฀(MCYS)฀in฀2004฀indicated฀that฀seven฀out฀of฀ten฀ survivors฀of฀violence฀stated฀that฀their฀lives฀had฀improved฀and฀ ฀ decided฀to฀remain฀in฀their฀marriages฀after฀undergoing฀the฀ programmes฀(MCYS฀2007a,฀b).฀However฀there฀are฀also฀ instances฀where฀the฀couples฀may฀decide฀the฀marriage฀is฀ not฀worth฀saving฀and฀end฀up฀in฀divorce฀or฀separation.฀The฀ law,฀by฀and฀large,฀has฀had฀a฀positive฀impact฀on฀families฀ ฀ experiencing฀violence.฀However,฀there฀have฀been฀instances฀ where฀the฀law฀has฀had฀unintended฀consequences฀on฀these฀ 05฀SWC.indd฀฀฀148 1/24/11฀฀฀2:46:03฀PM Psychosocial฀Impact฀of฀the฀Women’s฀Charter฀ 149 families.฀When฀this฀happens,฀the฀family฀suffers฀additional฀ stress. This฀ chapter฀ seeks฀ to฀ understand฀ the฀ impact฀ the฀ Singapore฀Women’s฀Charter฀has฀on฀families฀experiencing฀ violence.฀In฀gathering฀data,฀a฀phenomenological฀approach,฀ which฀ involves฀ understanding฀ the฀ situation฀ as฀ people฀ experience฀it,฀was฀adopted.฀In฀other฀words,฀to฀understand฀ the฀impact฀of฀laws฀and฀policies฀on฀families฀experiencing฀ violence,฀one฀needs฀to฀understand฀it฀in฀the฀context฀of฀their฀ reality.฀This฀chapter฀will฀discuss฀access฀issues฀in฀family฀ violence฀cases,฀maintenance,฀and฀gaps฀in฀the฀current฀system฀ that฀need฀to฀be฀addressed.฀To฀illustrate฀the฀key฀points฀in฀this฀ chapter,฀a฀case฀study฀analysis฀with฀case฀illustrations฀from฀ PAVe,฀the฀Centre฀for฀Promoting฀Alternatives฀to฀Violence,฀ ฀ will฀be฀used. The฀Significance฀of฀the฀Amendments฀to฀the฀฀ Women’s฀Charter฀on฀Social฀Services฀in฀Singapore The฀setting฀up฀of฀the฀Family฀Court฀and฀the฀amendments฀to฀ the฀Women’s฀Charter฀in฀1995฀and฀1996฀respectively฀turned฀ out฀ to฀ be฀ a฀ real฀ boon฀ for฀ the฀ social฀ services฀ sector.฀ For฀ the฀first฀time,฀social฀workers฀could฀reach฀out฀to฀the฀entire฀ family฀experiencing฀violence฀in฀the฀confines฀of฀the฀home฀ —฀these฀included฀survivors,฀abusers,฀and฀child฀witnesses.฀ In฀ addition,฀ the฀ widening฀ of฀ the฀ laws฀ to฀ include฀ family฀ members฀has฀also฀allowed฀for฀issues฀of฀sibling฀violence,฀ child-to-parent฀abuse,฀and฀the฀perpetration฀of฀elder฀abuse฀ to฀gain฀attention.฀The฀widened฀definition฀of฀the฀family฀that฀ goes฀beyond฀spouses฀and฀children฀to฀include฀in-laws฀and฀ ex-spouses,฀as฀well฀as฀the฀inclusion฀of฀psychological฀and฀ 05฀SWC.indd฀฀฀149 1/24/11฀฀฀2:46:03฀PM 150฀ Sudha฀Nair emotional฀abuse฀in฀the฀definition฀of฀family฀violence,฀allows฀ for฀more฀members฀of฀the฀family฀to฀seek฀protection. At฀ the฀ same฀ time,฀ the฀ setting฀ up฀ of฀ communitybased ฀ services฀ through฀ Family฀ Service฀ Centres฀ (FSCs),฀ specialized฀ services฀ such฀ as฀ the฀ Centre฀ for฀ Promoting฀ Alternatives฀to฀Violence฀(PAVe)฀in฀1999,฀SAFE...