 Singapore Airlines cabin crew | |
| General statistics | |
|---|---|
| Maternal mortality (per 100,000) | 3 (2010) |
| Women in parliament | 29.4% (2020) |
| Women over 25 withsecondary education | 76.6% (2021) |
| Women in labour force | 61.2% (2020) |
| Gender Inequality Index[1] | |
| Value | 0.040 (2021) |
| Rank | 7th out of 191 |
| Global Gender Gap Index[2] | |
| Value | 0.734 (2022) |
| Rank | 49th out of 146 |
Women in Singapore, particularly those who have joinedSingapore's workforce, are faced with balancing their traditional and modern-day roles in Singaporean society andeconomy.[3]
Until 2007,marital rape was not legally recognised. In 2007, marital rape was recognised under certain circumstances that signalled marriage breakdown. A committee called for the repeal of any kind of marital rape immunity on 9 September 2018.[4] Marital rape has since been completely criminalised under the Criminal Law Reform Act passed on 6 May 2019.[5] The laws came into force on 1 January 2020.[6]
On 20 September 2020, a virtual dialogue session involving more than 100 participants from youth and women organisations was held. Law and Home Affairs MinisterK. Shanmugam announced an initiative that will start in October which will include a series of engagements between the public and private sectors, as well as non-governmental organisations. The aim is to identify and tackle issues concerning women in Singapore. These will culminate in a White Paper to be issued by the Government in the first half of 2021, which will consolidate feedback and recommendations during the sessions, to be called “Conversations on Women Development”. The review was later extended to the second half of 2021 due to high demand.[7][8]
After almost a year of engagements, on 18 September 2021,Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong announced that the White Paper will be presented toParliament in early 2022 with three broad areas to be looked into, being ensuring equal workplace opportunities with legislating anti-discrimination rules and better childcare arrangements, better support for caregivers including a possible enhancement to the Home Caregiving Grant and strengthening protection for women both physically and online. In addition, a garden atDhoby Ghaut Green will be dedicated to the women of Singapore as part of a proposal accepted from theSingapore Council of Women's Organisations to name public spaces to reflect their contributions.[9][10][11]
At present, there is a low presence offemale participants in thepolitical arena of Singapore. Females constitute 42% of Singapore's workforce, however, a large portion of this number occupy low-level and low-salary positions. According to the 2011 articleWomen's Rights Situation in Singapore, these discrepancies can be mainly attributed not togender discrimination orgender inequality but instead to the women's lower educational qualifications and fewer job experiences than men, the women's focus and dedication to their role in family life, and thepaternalistic character andConfucian temperament of Singaporean society.[12]
In relation toentrepreneurship, in 1997Bloomberg Businessweek stated that businesswomen in Singapore can be grouped into two main categories: the entrepreneur woman who was already able to establish and raise a family, and the businesswoman who sought a substitute to the conventional "career path". An example of a successful Singaporean businesswoman was Catherine Lam, who established the company known as Fabristeel, a manufacturer of steel carts. Before launching Fabristeel in 1979, Lam worked as an accountant for 10 years. Women in Singapore who ventured into running businesses were motivated by "better education, the labor shortage", the encouragement to achieve entrepreneurial success, and the resulting "flexible lifestyle" while doing business-related roles.[13][14]
Another example isLim Soo Hoon, who was Singapore's Woman of the Year in 1997. Lim was the first female Permanent Secretary of Singapore who worked for the Public Service Division of the office of thePrime Minister of Singapore. Lim held positions at Singapore'sMinistry of Trade and Industry, then later into jobs in Singapore'sMinistry of Transport, and then in theMinistry of Manpower, andMinistry of Community Development, Youth and Sports.[15]
With regard tosexuality,BBC News reported in 2001 that Singaporean women have a more open attitude aboutsexual intimacy in Asia. The study reflected that 18% of the Singaporean women interviewed are "most likely to initiate" sexual activity with theirpersonal andintimate partners.[16] This is usually met with mixed opinion, as in the case of the example in 2009 when Dr Eng Kai Er walked through Holland Village naked with Swedish exchange student Jan Phillip and was fined S$2,000 with a warning issued by theAgency for Science, Technology and Research which sponsored her undergraduate studies.[17]
During the 2000s, 2-3 out of every 10 unfaithful couple members were women. Former decades, like 1980s and 1990s, adulterous women were rare. During the 2010s decade, the statistics changed, being women half the times.[18]
During the 2010s, there was a trend among 50s and 60s years olds women getting divorced. Most of them claimed they grew tired of their husband'sinfidelities.[19]
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