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

6. Epilogue: Some Thoughts on Protecting Women's Rights in the Family and Beyond

6 Epilogue:฀Some฀Thoughts฀on฀ Protecting฀Women’s฀Rights฀฀ in฀the฀Family฀and฀Beyond Theresa฀W.฀Devasahayam Women’s฀rights฀in฀countries฀the฀world฀over฀are฀protected฀ by฀a฀gamut฀of฀laws.฀There฀are฀pieces฀of฀legislation฀enabling฀ women’s฀participation฀in฀the฀public฀sphere฀or฀civil฀society฀ and฀the฀arenas฀of฀education,฀mass฀media,฀market฀economy,฀ and฀politics.฀There฀are฀also฀laws฀protecting฀women’s฀rights฀ in฀the฀private฀sphere฀of฀the฀family.฀Family฀practices฀on฀the฀ role฀and฀authority฀of฀the฀father฀in฀the฀family,฀obligations฀ and฀duties฀of฀both฀husband฀and฀wife,฀divorce,฀inheritance฀ rules,฀child฀custody,฀and฀other฀related฀issues฀are฀all฀governed฀ by฀laws.฀Civil฀family฀and฀marriage฀legislation฀found฀in฀the฀ different฀countries฀in฀Southeast฀Asia฀are฀about฀correcting฀ the฀ asymmetrical฀ relationship฀ between฀ men฀ and฀ women฀ in฀ their฀ personal฀ lives฀ —฀ an฀ arena฀ where฀ intervention฀ is฀ evidently฀ problematic฀ because฀ it฀ involves฀ interfering฀ in฀ people’s฀private฀lives. The฀Singapore฀Women’s฀Charter฀is฀no฀different฀from฀ numerous฀other฀marriage฀and฀family฀legislation฀found฀in฀ countries฀in฀the฀region.฀The฀Charter฀is฀about฀women฀and฀men฀ 06฀SWC.indd฀฀฀179 1/24/11฀฀฀2:49:14฀PM 180฀ Theresa฀W.฀Devasahayam —฀their฀roles,฀responsibilities,฀and฀rights฀—฀in฀the฀context฀of฀ family฀and฀marriage.฀Since฀its฀promulgation,฀the฀Women’s฀ Charter฀ has฀ been฀ a฀ landmark฀ legislation,฀ safeguarding฀ women’s฀ rights฀ in฀ matters฀ related฀ to฀ marriage,฀ divorce,฀ matrimonial฀assets,฀maintenance,฀and฀custody฀of฀children.฀ Although฀ called฀ the฀ Women’s฀ Charter฀ and฀ commonly฀ perceived฀to฀be฀pro-woman,฀the฀legislation฀is฀gender-neutral,฀ protecting฀as฀it฀does฀the฀rights฀of฀both฀women฀and฀men฀in฀ a฀marital฀relationship. In฀ spite฀ of฀ its฀ efficacy,฀ the฀ Women’s฀ Charter฀ is฀ not฀ without฀imperfections.฀While฀it฀protects฀a฀spouse,฀former฀ spouse,฀ child,฀ stepchild,฀ adopted฀ child,฀ parents,฀ parentsin -law,฀and฀any฀other฀relative฀or฀incapacitated฀individual฀ who฀is฀regarded฀by฀the฀court฀as฀a฀member฀of฀the฀family,฀ couples฀in฀de฀facto฀or฀“informal฀marriages”฀are฀excluded.฀ Another฀ limitation฀ of฀ the฀ Charter฀ is฀ that฀ only฀ the฀ victim฀ of฀ family฀ violence฀ can฀ apply฀ for฀ a฀ protection฀ order;฀ it฀ has฀ been฀ found฀ that฀ in฀ many฀ instances,฀ however,฀ the฀ victim฀ often฀ believes฀ she฀ cannot฀ help฀ herself฀ and,฀ as฀ a฀ result,฀ does฀ not฀ take฀ the฀ necessary฀ action฀ to฀ end฀ the฀ abusive฀ relationship.฀ The฀ Women’s฀ Charter฀ falls฀ short฀ in฀ yet฀ another฀ way.฀ The฀ amended฀ Charter฀ makes฀ it฀ mandatory฀ not฀ only฀ for฀ the฀ abuser,฀ but฀ also฀ the฀ victim,฀ to฀ undergo฀ counselling.฀ To฀ this฀ end,฀ the฀ legislation฀ has฀ the฀ potential฀ effect฀ of฀ “blaming฀ the฀ victim”.฀ Another฀ shortcoming฀of฀the฀Charter฀relates฀to฀how฀it฀has฀become฀ enforced;฀ procedural฀ guidelines฀ to฀ ensure฀ the฀ effective฀ enforcement฀ of฀ maintenance฀ orders฀ are฀ much฀ needed฀ for:฀ (a)฀ reducing฀ conflict฀ between฀ spouses฀ and฀ exspouses ฀ about฀ future฀ continuing฀ financial฀ obligations;฀ ฀ (b)฀ encouraging฀ shared฀ parental฀ financial฀ responsibility;฀ 06฀SWC.indd฀฀฀180 1/24/11฀฀฀2:49:14฀PM Protecting฀Women’s฀Rights฀in฀the฀Family฀and฀Beyond฀ 181 ฀and฀(c)฀ensuring฀that฀the฀recovery฀process฀for฀maintenance฀ is฀not฀overly฀burdensome,฀time-consuming,฀or฀costly฀to฀ the฀ individual฀ who฀ has฀ already฀ gone฀ through฀ the฀ effort฀ and฀expense฀of฀obtaining฀a฀final฀maintenance฀order฀from฀ the฀courts฀(SCWO฀2009).฀In฀this฀regard,฀the฀enforcement฀ of฀ the฀ law฀ is฀ as฀ critical฀ as฀ the฀ promulgation฀ of฀ the฀ law฀ itself.฀The฀goal฀of฀enforcement฀is฀to฀achieve฀compliance฀ with฀the฀rule฀of฀prescribed฀behaviour฀to฀the฀degree฀which฀ Singapore฀believes฀it฀can฀afford,฀based฀on฀its฀resources.฀ Here,฀ the฀ law฀ needs฀ to฀ be฀ effectively฀ enforced฀ because฀ social฀ norms฀ are฀ not฀ strong฀ enough;฀ in฀ this฀ case,฀ “law฀ enforcement฀also฀may฀be฀able฀to฀reinforce฀social฀norms฀ and฀thereby฀indirectly฀contribute฀to฀effective฀enforcement”฀ (Polinsky฀ and฀ Shavell฀ 1998,฀ p.฀ 42). As฀ in฀ the฀ legislation฀ protecting฀ women’s฀ rights฀ in฀ the฀family฀in฀the฀other฀countries฀in฀Southeast฀Asia,฀there฀ have฀been฀several฀amendments฀to฀the฀Singapore฀Women’s฀ Charter฀since฀its฀promulgation.฀The฀year฀1996,฀for฀example,฀ saw฀amendments฀to฀the฀Women’s฀Charter฀Act฀which฀broadened ฀ the฀ definition฀ of฀ violence฀ to฀ include฀ intimidation,฀ continual฀harassment,฀or฀restraint฀against฀one’s฀will,฀and฀ provided฀counselling฀orders฀for฀victims.฀In฀this฀matter,฀the฀ government฀has฀taken฀an฀interagency฀approach฀involving฀ the฀ courts,฀ police,฀ hospitals,฀ and฀ social฀ service฀ agencies฀ to฀ help฀ victims฀ of฀ violence฀ and฀ the฀ perpetrators.฀ These฀ amendments฀are฀clearly฀not฀only฀an฀expression฀of฀political฀ will฀on฀the฀part฀of฀the฀state฀to฀ensure฀greater฀protection฀ to฀ women,฀ but฀ also฀ a฀ recognition฀ that฀ violence฀ against฀ women฀is฀a฀complicated...