Singaporean misandry

Men-Are-Human · 2021-11-07T14:12:58+00:00

Thank you for this. It will help build an international list of men's issues on https://menarehuman.com

Solid-Perspective98 · 2021-11-07T16:30:42+00:00

Rape in Singapore is defined as a man using his penis to penetrate another without consent. This means that only men can be perpetrators of rape and female-on-male rape is not really recognized.

Whilst rape has unfortunately remained a gender-specific offence, female-on-male rape is technically recognised. A law reform in 2020 expanded the purview of s376 (sexual assault involving penetration) and added a commensurate provision to include made to penetrate scenarios (s376(2)(b)). This offence carries the same maximum sentence as rape, although the sentencing banding may differ. Also, as you've pointed out, caning, which is often imposed as an additional punishment for sexual offences, is only applicable for male offenders.

Notably, the 2020 law reform also recognise men and boys as possible victims of modesty insult (sexual harassment). S509 was repealed and the gender-neutral s377BA was enacted in its place.

Furthermore, there are two upcoming amendments to the Penal Code with regards to making sexual offences more gender-neutral.

Currently, only men who have committed acts of necrophilia are punishable by the law. The amendment will expand its current scope to include more acts and variations of necrophilia, including manipulating a corpse to sexually penetrate oneself.

Currently, only a man is eligible for a lesser charge if he proves that by reason of mistake of fact in good faith, he believed that the act of penetration against a person below 14 years of age was done with consent. (refer to s376(6)). The amendment will extend this safeguard to alleged female offenders.

Still, there remains a slew of gendered laws regarding sexual offences and modesty.

In Singapore, acts of sexual deception (like stealthing) punishable under s376H of the Penal Code. However, with regards to heterosexual acts, a man lying about being on birth control (e.g. vasectomy) is an offence but a woman lying about being on birth control (e.g. BCP, IUD, tubal ligation) is not. Refer to s376H(3)(c)(i) and (ii).

Infamously, any male homosexual act, by it in private or public is illegal but female homosexual acts are not. Although the government said that this law will not be proactively enforced, the AGC stated that it's right to prosecute remains "unfettered".

Most offences and protections for sex workers are gender-specific. Male sex workers, aside from being technically illegal in all cases by virtue of S377A, are accorded very little protections from exploitation. This is largely because most relevent provisions are under Part XI of the Women's Charter, and explicitly gender-specific.

There exists some arguably superfluous and outdated provisions. Take s4 of the Defamation Act as an example, which reads

"Words spoken and published which impute unchastity or adultery to any woman or girl shall not require special damage to render them actionable."

I have yet to see this provision at play, nor do I have any idea how it synergies with other provisions, especially s377BA (insult of a person's modesty). Still, I believe that it is incredibly archaic. Firstly, it gives the impression that imputing the unchastity of males is harmless or less harmful. Secondly, it reinforced the notion that being a virgin is a sign of virtue for females, and women who deviated are "impure" and "damaged". All such concepts are reprehensible.

Regarding body searching, women can only be searched by female officers (except in exceptional cases) but men can be searched by both male and female officers. Moreover, it is explicitly stated that searches conducted on women (and only women) must be "made with strict regard to decency." In fact, this practice is encoded in not just the CPC but other statutes as well, such as the Prison Regulations.

Regarding medical examination of pupils, consent is only mandated in circumstances where girls over the age of 10 are to be examined by a male medical officer. Consent is not mandated for boys, regardless of circumstances.

I have experienced this first hand. When I was in P5 (11 years old), a genital examination was conducted for all boys in my grade. I was examined by a female practitioner. Neither my consent nor my parents' were sought.

Aside from sexual offences and modesty laws, there are other gendered legislations and policies.

Spousal maintenance (alimony) is gender-specific and only wives may file for it. A 2016 amendment to the Women's Charter made it possible for husbands to file for alimony in very exceptional circumstances. For a man to be eligible, he must be, before or during the course of the marriage, clinically incapacitated, not able to maintain himself and continues to be unable to maintain himself. This means the vast majority of husbands are ineligible by default, regardless of other circumstances. It does not matter if one is a househusband who sacrificed his career and has little capacity of employment.

Singapore provides statutory paid parental leave for both mothers and fathers. However, the gender disparity is enormous. Biological mothers are entitled to 16 weeks of paid maternity leave while fathers are only entitled to 2 weeks. Furthermore, only fathers who are married to the mother of their children are entitled to this scheme. Mothers are entitled to their paid leaves regardless of marital status.

Whilst some extent of disparity is justifiable due to the need for postpartum recovery, this does not explains the disparity for adoptive parents, which does not involves any element of childbearing and childbirth. Adoptive mothers are entitled to 12 weeks of paid adoption leave but adoptive fathers are only entitled to 2 weeks (under the paid paternity leave scheme). This is regardless of familial arrangements. An adoptive father may be the primary caregiver and that wouldn't matter. This is true even for cases of single adoptive parents.

Just like in New Zealand, single men are not allowed to adopt girls (s3(4)), while single women are allowed to adopt both boys and girls. The purported reason is to "safeguard the interests of female children".

Nauseatingly, a judge is "concerned" about gay singles adopting boys. Interestingly, she did not demonstrate the same considerations for lesbian singles adopting girls or heterosexual single women adopting boys.

It is a common policy in the early childhood industry to not allow male pre-school teachers to conduct routine care (showering, changing diapers etc) or be too intimate with the children (hugging etc). This is notwithstanding the fact that there is no such restriction being prescribed by the relevant agency (Early Childhood Development Agency).

Gendered grooming standards and their enforcement are observed across the entire society. In schools, boys are not allowed to have long hair and ear accessories while girls are allowed both short and long hair, as well as wearing ear accessories. In uniformed services such as the armed forces, female personnel are permitted to retain their long hair, provided it's properly managed. They are also permitted to wear make up and nail polish of neutral tones.

Edit: There are also mother-specific tax reliefs for married mothers, such as the Working Mother Child Relief (WMCR)), Grandparent Caregiver Relief (GCR) and Foreign Domestic Worker Levy (FDWL) Relief-relief). Fathers and single mothers are not eligible for these. Thanks to u/PricklyGoober for pointing these out.

Neveah_Hope_Dreams · 2021-11-07T20:58:21+00:00

Thankyou so much for sharing all of this and having stats and facts for proof. I got to have a transit in Singapore during my trip to London and Paris. I spent the whole 8 hours until the plane to London in the amazing Shanghai Airport. It's sad that a small country with such personality and rich culture and tourism is so sexist and oppressive.

Do you think that as a small country there will be a quick and rapid change if something is done about it?

PricklyGoober · 2021-11-07T23:03:20+00:00

There are also gender-specific tax reliefs. For example, the presence of a working mother’s tax relief but the absence of one for working fathers.

Men do get a tax relief after they have gone through the two years of National Service, but a woman who marries a man who has gone through it get a tax relief (albeit a lesser one) despite not going through NS.

reynovice · 2021-11-08T00:42:26+00:00

eh a fellow singaporean ahhaa nice sup dude or gal

Title	Singaporean misandry
Author	JackieNaper1907
Upvotes	73
Comments	7
Date	November 7, 2021 1:47 PM UTC (2 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/comments/qoouwq/singaporean_misandry/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/singaporean-misandry.1085434 https://theredarchive.com/post/1085434