Marital Rape

Asst Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the number of false police reports of rapes by spouses in the last 10 years; and (b) whether marital rape not being a criminal offence in our statute books results in our laws putting married women in a vulnerable position legally and vis-a-vis their husbands and other unmarried women.

Mdm Speaker, let

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me first clarify that it is incorrect to say that marital rape is not a criminal offence in our statute books. The Penal Code Amendments in 2007, which came into effect on 1 February 2008, defined the offence of marital rape in situations where there is some evidence of a breakdown in the marital relationship.

Under sections 375(4) and 376A(5) of the Penal Code, there is no marital immunity in circumstances such as when divorce proceedings are underway and the parties are living apart, and when the wife has commenced proceedings to take out, or has taken out, a protection order against the husband. These provisions protect women who have clearly signalled their withdrawal of implied consent to a conjugal relationship.

Since 2008, there has been one instance where a wife was issued a stern warning for making a false report of marital rape against her husband. Our laws on marital rape should reflect the norms and values in society. My Ministry and the Ministry of Social and Family Development are currently reviewing this issue.

Madam, I thank the Minister for his reply and I am glad to note that the Ministry is reviewing this particular provision. It is interesting to note that there has only been one reported case of false report, and I hope that would actually send the message that wives are not going to make frivolous complaints. May I ask the Minister when the Ministry expects to complete the review on the provisions related to marital rape?

Mdm Speaker, I thank the Member for his question. I must again emphasise that these statistics are in the context of how marital rape has been defined in our laws. So, there is a certain set of circumstances that circumscribe the context in which the immunity is lifted and that is the context in which these statistics are gathered. We do not know if in fact − and I think that is what the Member is alluding to − we have a total lifting of the immunity, what the instances of false reporting will be. More importantly, the context in which these sorts of assertions are made is hard to establish because of the intrinsic nature of a marital relationship. I think that is a part that we need to deal with. This is a sensitive and emotive matter. It has been discussed and debated extensively in this House in 2007, and the review will take those issues into account.

It is because of its very nature and one that is involving several Ministries that I cannot give the Member a specific time frame. I can assure him that it is

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something that is given adequate priority in the Ministry's work.