It is the final weekend for the No To Rape petition drive. Please take some time to remind friends and family to sign before the deadline on midnight 30 November. We know there are many more people who oppose sexual violence within marriage, and support giving everyone the full protection of the law. But we need your names on the petition to make sure the government knows it too.
Posts Tagged ‘Actions’
Campaign Action: Go to your MP’s Meet the People Session
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
(Campaign Actions are suggestions we make every fortnight for steps you can take – in addition to spreading the No To Rape message online – to help the effort for change. Previous Campaign Actions: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7] and [8].)
You object to marital immunity for rape. You believe women deserve protection from violence, no matter who commits it.
We know this. But for the law to change, we need your MP to know it too.
That’s why our Campaign Action from now to the petition deadline on 30 November is:
Go to your MP’s Meet the People Session. Tell your MP that you believe rape is always violence, and that married women need the full protection of the law.
Tell your MP that more than 3,000 people have signed the No To Rape online petition, and that the number is growing.
Tell them that you have heard and read the stories of women who have experienced marital rape – on Channel News Asia and in Her World – and that the current law is inadequate to protect them.
You can use the leaflet on our Promote page to help you make your points.
If you would like to coordinate your meeting with your MP with another No To Rape supporter, email us with your constituency and preferred dates (if any) in advance. We will put people in touch with one another.
In addition, please do email us afterward and let us know how your meeting went.
Thank you for taking action to create change.
Religion and marital rape
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
Blogger Terence Lee, who calls himself a “skeptical Christian”, has written about about the extent of support for No To Rape from the Christian community. We’re very grateful to Terence for highlighting our campaign, and would like to address the issue he has raised, by speaking of our efforts to develop a relationship with all religious communities in Singapore.
No To Rape includes individuals who subscribe to a variety of religious beliefs, as well as some who have no religion at all. Our belief is that people from all traditions and faiths have a shared interest in addressing sexual violence within marriage. Everyone in multi-cultural and multi-religious Singapore has a shared interest in fair, humane laws that ensure the protection of all people against assault. No To Rape aims to further that shared interest.
We know that for many people, marital relationships are a deeply spiritual matter intimately tied to the ethical teachings and guidance of their religious communities. For this reason, we have sought to engage religious communities, and have been hard at work contacting a variety of religious authorities to seek their contributions and opinions on the subject.
To date, many have responded positively: see [1], [2], [3], [4] (it is not mentioned in that entry, but Mr Blakely is a marriage counsellor with Wesley Methodist Church) and [5] for some of the messages we have received. There are others, in confidential correspondence, that we cannot currently disclose. It’s also worth noting the guidance of the Christian churches in the Bahamas, where the government is working on legislative changes similar to those we propose.
No To Rape is very conscious of the need to improve this dialogue, which is after all an ongoing process. Our ability to do so, however, is only as good as the connections we manage to form – which in turn is reliant on the goodwill of those who believe in what we stand for. We seek help from you, the public, to more effectively engage the varied traditions which go into the ethical and social space in which Singaporeans live.
If you support the abolition of marital immunity for rape and are able to help us better engage and communicate with leading members in your faith community, please let us know.
Campaign Action: Set Up a Sign-Up Point
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
(Campaign Actions are suggestions we make every fortnight for steps you can take – in addition to spreading the No To Rape message online – to help the effort for change. Previous Campaign Actions: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6] and [7].)
This fortnight’s Campaign Action is:
Set Up a Sign-Up Point. Do you ever hang out somewhere with wireless access? Do you use a laptop at your school or for work? Can you arrange for Internet access at your place of worship?
Put up a desk with a sign, set your browser to the Petition page, and start collecting signatures!
You can use the leaflets in the Promote section and the FAQ to help you respond to concerns.
We often have queries about the IC number field. This is collected to improve the credibility of the petition by confirming that signatures come from unique individuals. You can reassure people that access to this information is highly restricted and we don’t sell or use it in any other way.
Imagine if you can get just five people to sign the petition, and they all tell five friends, who tell five more… we’ll be on our way to the target of 10,000 signatures in no time.
We’re into the final stretch now. Thank you for standing with us so far – we need your help for some final pushes to get us over the line.
Campaign Action: Write to MinLaw
Thursday, October 8th, 2009
(Campaign Actions are suggestions we make every fortnight for steps you can take – in addition to spreading the No To Rape message online – to help the effort for change. Previous Campaign Actions: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5] and [6].)
This fortnight’s Campaign Action is: Write to the Ministry of Law (MinLaw).
The Ministry of Law (MinLaw) is responsible for reviewing legal policy to ensure Singapore’s legal system is modern and relevant, that justice is accessible, and that the rule of law is upheld. Send an email or letter to Minister for Law Mr K Shanmugan (who is also Second Minister for Home Affairs) and tell him that you think marital immunity for rape should be completely abolished.
Email: k_shanmugan@mlaw.gov.sg
Post: Ministry of Law, 100 High Street, #08-02 The Treasury, Singapore 179434
Here are some points you can make – you can write in your own words, or copy and paste:
- Marital immunity for rape is based on archaic ideas and serves to deny women the protection of the law against violence.
- The current law is arbitrary and inconsistent. The offence of “sexual penetration” under Section 376 criminalises non-consensual anal and oral penetration within marriage, as well as penetration of the vagina with the hand, without any immunity. This shows that the law and its officers are able and willing to adjudicate on the issue of non-consent to sexual activity within marriage. Why should the position be different for penile-vaginal acts?
- There is no evidence that abolition of marital immunity for rape in other jurisdictions has led to an “opening of the floodgates” for false allegations. The position we seek is the status quo in Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, the United Kingdom, the Philippines and elsewhere. None of these countries is considering reinstating marital immunity because of abuses by wives.
Please let us know of any responses you receive. Thank you again for taking a stand against violence against women.
Campaign Action: Write to MHA
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
(Campaign Actions are suggestions we make every fortnight for steps you can take – in addition to spreading the No To Rape message online – to help the effort for change. Previous Campaign Actions: [1], [2], [3], [4] and [5].) Click here for the current No To Rape Campaign Action
Campaign Action: Write to MCYS
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
(Campaign Actions are suggestions we make every fortnight for steps you can take – in addition to spreading the No To Rape message online – to help the effort for change. Previous Campaign Actions: [1], [2], [3] and [4].)
The current No To Rape Campaign Action is:
Write to MCYS. Last November, Minister for State for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon and Coordinating Director/Corporate Management for MCYS Mrs Tan Hwee Seh signed up to a UNIFEM campaign as representatives of the Singapore government.
This signature commits the government to making it a top priority to end violence against women.
Send an email or a letter to Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon citing this commitment and stating your support for the total abolition of marital immunity for rape.
Email: foo_yee_shoon@mcys.gov.sg
Post: Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, 512 Thomson Road, MCYS Building, Singapore 298136
The letter will have more effect if you use your own words, but here are some things you could say:
- Marital rape, like all rape, is a form of violence. (If this is supported by your religious beliefs, please explain that fact.)
- The government should fulfil the commitment it took on in signing up to the UNIFEM campaign, by ensuring its laws and policies adequately address violence against women.
- Marital immunity for rape denies women the protection of the law in cases of violence to their person. It should be completely abolished.
More ideas can be found in the Model Letter in the Promote section.
Thank you for speaking up on behalf of women in Singapore. Every action you take for the campaign brings us closer to change.
Campaign Action: Tell a New Person Each Day
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
(Campaign Actions are suggestions we make every fortnight for steps you can take – in addition to spreading the No To Rape message online – to help the effort for change. Previous Campaign Actions: [1], [2] and [3].)
The current No To Rape Campaign Action is:
Tell a New Person Each Day. It’s that simple. Every day for the next two weeks, mention the No To Rape campaign and website to one person you haven’t spoken about it to before.
You can use the leaflets provided in the Promote section to help you respond to any questions or to get the conversation going.
We are working hard to spread the word to as many people as we can, but we can’t do this without you. Please act to create a society which takes sexual violence seriously, no matter what its form may be.
Campaign Action: put up our posters
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
(Campaign Actions are suggestions we make every fortnight for steps you can take – in addition to spreading the No To Rape message online – to help the effort for change. Previous Campaign Actions: [1] and [2].)
The current No To Rape Campaign Action is:
Put up our poster. You can find a simple, black-and-white A4-sized poster in the Resources column of the Promote section of our website. Print it out on ordinary paper and put it up on the notice boards of places you go to – like your office, your campus or your place of worship. Get permission from your favourite shop or eating place to put it up there too!
Please send us an email at NoToRape@gmail.com to let us know where you put the posters up – preferably with a picture if you can take one! We’d also love to hear about it if you took part in last fortnight’s Campaign Action.
Campaign Action: write to the press
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Remember our Campaign Actions? Every fortnight, we post a new suggestion for something you can do to be even more effective at promoting the No To Rape message. Two weeks ago we asked you to write to your MP.
The current No To Rape Campaign Action is:
Write to the press. We suggest writing to any publication you read regularly, whether it’s a newspaper like The Straits Times, Today, Lianhe Zaobao, Berita Harian, Tamil Murasu, or The Business Times; or a magazine; or a newsletter for your school or workplace or club or association.
Tell them that you think marital immunity for rape should be abolished, and why.
Your letter will have more impact if you use your own words. Feel free to use the FAQ the Resources in the Promote section for information or ideas.
If you’re not sure what to say, here are a few possibilities:
- At the moment, except in limited circumstances, a man who forces sex upon his wife cannot be charged for rape. This is wrong and should change because rape is violence, and spousal violence is not acceptable.
- In August is the 10th anniversary of the hearing for PP v N, a case where a man tied his wife up, gagged her and forced intercourse upon her. He could not be charged for rape. A decade later, even with changes to the law in 2007, the result would be the same.
- Marital rape happens. Signatories on the No To Rape petition have spoken of their personal experiences as victims, or their work with victims.
- Are you of a particular faith? Mention that marital immunity for rape is not supported by your religious values.
- Marital immunity does not apply to non-consensual anal or oral sex, so the police and the law are prepared to investigate non-consent in the context of marriage. They should do so in relation to all forms of sexual violence.
Please send us your letters too, and let us know if you have responses. The more we share, the more effective we’ll be.
Thank you for promoting humane standards of treatment for women in Singapore.
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