Apparently, in Singapore, if a man rapes his wife, it’s not considered as rape under the eyes of the law.
Which basically means, it’s marital rape immunity.
But there shouldn’t be any. A rape is a rape. It doesn’t matter what the relationship between the perpetrator and victim is – spouses, lovers, friends, colleagues, acquaintances or worse, strangers. As long as there’s enough evidence of force being used, the rapist should be convicted.
Help those who are in need. There’s an ongoing petition at notorape.com, to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, urging for a complete repeal of the two instances of marital rape immunity in the Penal Code. Namely, Sections 375(4) and 376A(5).
Remember, sexual violence by any person, against any person, is criminal violence.
Help those who are in distress, you might know one yourself.
It’s disturbing, distressing for victims and their loved ones. Let’s all help, however minute that effort might be.
Do visit notorape.com for FAQs, downloadable materials like posters and flyers. Help shed light on this issue by spreading the word around to your friends, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc etc.
.
Edited 17/01/10: I have no idea what happened to this campaign. It only had less than 4000 people signing the petition in the end. And frankly, it’s as though the whole campaign quietly dissolved. Oh wells, at least there were people who showed their support.