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

1. Legal Mechanisms for Protecting Women's Rights: Examples from Southeast Asia

1 Legal฀Mechanisms฀for฀ Protecting฀Women’s฀Rights:฀ Examples฀from฀Southeast฀Asia Theresa฀W.฀Devasahayam Introduction With฀ increasing฀ levels฀ of฀ economic฀ development฀ in฀ countries฀ across฀ the฀ world,฀ the฀ assumption฀ is฀ that฀ there฀ would฀ be฀ greater฀ equality฀ between฀ men฀ and฀ women฀ in฀ every฀facet฀of฀life.฀It฀is฀no฀longer฀a฀surprise฀to฀see฀women฀ making฀a฀mark฀in฀the฀public฀sphere:฀there฀are฀women฀in฀ high-level฀ positions฀ in฀ government,฀ the฀ private฀ sector,฀ including฀ banking฀ and฀ financial฀ services,฀ international฀ organizations,฀ and฀ others.฀ But฀ women฀ would฀ not฀ have฀ come฀ thus฀ far฀ without฀ the฀ endorsement฀ of฀ the฀ state฀ through฀the฀installation฀of฀laws฀and฀policies฀engendering฀ equality฀between฀the฀sexes.฀Most฀countries฀have฀in฀place฀ national฀ laws฀ to฀ protect฀ women’s฀ rights,฀ in฀ addition฀ to฀ having฀ratified฀the฀most฀distinct฀international฀human฀rights฀ instrument฀related฀to฀women฀—฀the฀UN฀Convention฀on฀the฀ Elimination฀of฀All฀Forms฀of฀Discrimination฀Against฀Women฀ 01฀SWC.indd฀฀฀1 1/24/11฀฀฀2:54:02฀PM 2฀ Theresa฀W.฀Devasahayam (CEDAW).฀ Others฀ have฀ complemented฀ their฀ legislation฀ and฀ their฀ support฀ of฀ CEDAW฀ with฀ targeted฀ programmes฀ to฀eliminate฀any฀discrimination฀against฀women.฀ In฀spite฀of฀these฀efforts,฀there฀have฀been฀mixed฀findings฀ reported฀on฀women’s฀advancement฀in฀many฀countries฀across฀ the฀ world฀ —฀ whether฀ it฀ is฀ in฀ education,฀ employment,฀ health,฀or฀matters฀in฀the฀private฀domain฀such฀as฀domestic฀ violence.1 ฀ For฀ example,฀ “violence฀ against฀ women฀ and฀ sexual฀exploitation฀remain฀serious฀problems฀…”,฀according฀ to฀a฀CEDAW฀report.2 ฀Only฀eighty-nine฀member฀states฀of฀the฀ United฀Nations฀have฀legislative฀provisions฀for฀addressing฀ domestic฀ violence฀ as฀ of฀ 2006฀ and,฀ of฀ this฀ number,฀ sixty฀ states฀ have฀ specific฀ domestic฀ violence฀ laws฀ while฀ others฀ have฀mapped฀out฀clear฀national฀plans฀on฀this฀issue.3 ฀Clearly,฀ not฀ all฀ governments฀ have฀ conscientiously฀ installed฀ the฀ relevant฀legislation฀to฀protect฀women,฀drawing฀criticisms฀ from฀ some฀ human฀ rights฀ quarters฀ which฀ accuse฀ “[some]฀ governments฀[of]฀not฀living฀up฀to฀their฀promises฀…”.4 ฀In฀ response,฀ these฀ governments฀ have฀ evoked฀ the฀ “separate฀ sphere฀ideology”,฀maintaining฀that฀some฀issues฀are฀related฀ to฀ the฀ private฀ domain฀ in฀ which฀ governments฀ should฀ not฀ interfere฀ (Mertus฀ 1995,฀ p.฀ 135).฀ But฀ if฀ governments฀ do฀ recognize฀that฀“disrupt[ing]฀existing฀family฀arrangements฀ and฀ influenc[ing]฀ women’s฀ ability฀ to฀ participate฀ fully฀ in฀ the฀social฀and฀political฀spheres”฀through฀legal฀provisions฀ results฀in฀protecting฀women’s฀rights฀(Mertus฀1995,฀p.฀135),฀ this฀ may฀ have฀ the฀ effect฀ of฀ fulfilling฀ larger฀ economic,฀ political,฀and฀social฀goals. In฀ spite฀ of฀ recognizing฀ that฀ the฀ law฀ is฀ “a฀ powerful฀ weapon฀in฀the฀struggle฀for฀social,฀political฀and฀economic฀ 01฀SWC.indd฀฀฀2 1/24/11฀฀฀2:54:02฀PM Legal฀Mechanisms฀for฀Protecting฀Women’s฀Rights฀ 3 equality฀ between฀ men฀ and฀ women฀ …฀ the฀ struggle฀ to฀ produce฀ a฀ society฀ where฀ sex฀ is฀ no฀ longer฀ a฀ barrier฀ to฀ equality”฀ continues฀ to฀ be฀ prevalent฀ in฀ many฀ countries฀ (Mezey฀ 2001,฀ p.฀ 420).฀ While฀ installing฀ legal฀ provisions฀ to฀ protect฀ women’s฀ rights฀ in฀ the฀ private฀ domain฀ as฀ well฀ as฀ in฀ other฀ areas฀ impeding฀ gender฀ equality฀ is฀ a฀ critical฀ step฀forward฀for฀women’s฀empowerment,฀it฀must฀be฀noted฀ that฀having฀laws฀in฀place฀does฀not฀always฀guarantee฀that฀ women’s฀rights฀are฀protected.฀It฀has฀been฀found฀that฀various฀ obstacles฀exist฀in฀the฀implementation฀of฀these฀laws,฀together฀ with฀ the฀ problem฀ that฀ these฀ laws฀ have฀ shortcomings฀ which,฀ in฀ turn,฀ have฀ perpetuated฀ and฀ reinforced฀ gender฀ inequality฀ instead.฀ It฀ must฀ also฀ be฀ recognized฀ that฀ national฀ laws฀ are฀ not฀ applied฀ in฀ isolation.฀ Rather฀ these฀ laws฀ protecting฀ women’s฀ rights฀ are฀ often฀ operating฀ in฀ tandem฀with฀religious฀laws฀and฀cultural฀norms,฀sometimes฀ resulting฀ in฀ clashes฀ (cf.฀ Mertus฀ 1995).฀ For฀ example,฀ it฀ has฀ been฀ found฀ in฀ the฀ region฀ that฀ men฀ continue฀ to฀ have฀ “the฀ unilateral฀ right฀ …฀ to฀ repudiate฀ his฀ wife,฀ contract฀ polygamous฀marriages,฀claim฀conjugal฀rights฀…”฀based฀on฀ religious฀laws,฀posing฀problems฀in฀developing฀a฀model฀of฀ equality฀for฀both฀men฀and฀women฀(Economic฀and฀Social฀ Commission฀for฀Asia฀and฀the฀Pacific฀1997,฀p.฀34).5 ฀Thus฀ in฀ many฀ instances,฀ the฀ implementation฀ of฀ national฀ laws฀ protecting฀women฀is฀obstructed฀by฀a฀myriad฀of฀variables฀ —฀ each฀ having฀ the฀ effect฀ of฀ suppressing฀ or฀ hindering฀ gender฀equality฀or฀even฀reproducing฀gender฀inequality.฀For฀ these฀ reasons,฀ in฀ spite฀ of฀ the฀ existence฀ of฀ national฀ laws฀ protecting฀women’s฀rights฀in฀many฀areas,฀women฀continue฀ ฀ to฀ be฀ disadvantaged. 01฀SWC.indd฀฀฀3 1/24/11฀฀฀2:54:02฀PM 4฀ Theresa฀W.฀Devasahayam The฀Fight฀for฀Women’s฀Rights:฀A฀Woman’s฀Story National฀laws฀protecting฀women’s฀rights฀in฀Southeast฀Asia฀ run...