AWARE

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women: Women’s Anti-Discrimination Committee Urges Singapore to Withdraw Reservations and Strengthen Legal Framework on Discrimination

1st August 2007

Singapore was praised for initiatives and improvements it had made since the last recommendations from the CEDAW Committee. It was also put on the spot a few times by the 11-member CEDAW Committee on the blanket reservations on Article 2 and 16; for the lack of sexual harassment laws; over its inadequate legal protection for the foreign domestic workers and its process of awarding citizenry status to foreign wives. Most importantly the CEDAW Committee recommended that the State needs to review its ideological positions vis-à-vis definitions of discrimination, equality; policy creation objectives that seemed to respect majority views and on other occasions minority views; and what constituted private matters in relationships.

The 17-member Government team, led my Minister of State, Madam Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, comprised members of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on CEDAW and members from the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations. AWARE as an NGO was at the Session to advocate on the key concerns as outlined in the Shadow Report done by the AWARE.

Singapore ratified this International Bill of Rights in October 1995. As part of that process Governments submit periodic reports to the CEDAW Committee and NGOs also submit Shadow reports to the committee. At the CEDAW sessions the progress made by countries to eliminate discrimination are critiqued in a constructive dialogue.

On Wednesday, CEDAW Committee members suggested the Government remove its reservations on Article 2 and 16 or at least make a partial reservation. Vice-Chairperson of the CEDAW Committee, Ms Naela Mohamed Gabr, recommended that: Singapore study the practices of other Muslim countries on compliance to CEDAW while upholding Syariah Law; clerics stayed abreast of various schools of thought in Islam; and more exchanges take place to discuss Syariah law.

The Committee was also keen to hear answers from the Government on why there were still too few women in Parliament and in higher offices within the Civil Service, Judiciary, Foreign Service, for a highly educated women population. CEDAW Committee member, Ms Heisoo Shin reiterated that the definition of discrimination meant there ought to be no direct or indirect discrimination within the structure.

The Committee also raised questions on the efficiency of the Women’s Desk and the IMC in its role of mainstreaming gender into policies and being the governing body. There were also extensive discussions on introducing anti-discrimination laws to complement the Women’s Charter, Employment Act and Penal Code. The State was clear in its answer that it was not necessary as there were “no sexual harassment offences’ and that was adequate protection under the Penal Code.

The Committee also asked Singapore on the protection available for and discrimination faced by Foreign Domestic Workers, Foreign Wives, Trafficked Women and Homosexuals. They wanted to know how foreign wives were protected and if Singapore had enough shelters for abused women. She also urged the State to ratify the Optional Protocol on Trafficking and asked questions on how front-line officers were sensitized to issues such as trafficking and on the definitions around trafficking. The Committee also asked about discrimination against homosexual women in Singapore and how they were protected.

While there was praise for the State’s integrity and commitment to its International Treaties it was also made clear that for a developed country we, in Singapore, were still struggling with the fundamental tenet of CEDAW – that is, to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women.

AWARE’s Response:

The NGO presentation went well with AWARE and SCWO making oral statements to the 23-member CEDAW Committee.

AWARE also held a lunch time briefing for all CEDAW Committee members. We are very happy that the past two years of our work has resulted in the CEDAW Committee asking questions on the key areas that still affect women - political representation, the transparency and profile of the National Machinery on Women, the critique on work-life balance as still being discriminatory in that the burden is borne more by the women and that the protection given to foreign women is still inadequate. Most importantly the dialogues to uncover why Syariah Law is limiting us from making Constitutional Amendments to include 'gender' and 'status' will begin. We hope by the next CEDAW Committee meeting, Singapore will move from imposing a blanket reservation to Articles 2 and 16. The CEDAW Committee responding to the replies from State representatives also underlined the need for the State to review its position on its ideological understanding on discrimination. 
 
AWARE admires the work of the CEDAW Committee as they are diligent, precise and sharp. Singapore took its presentation before the Committee seriously, arriving early with a 17-member team to prepare for the Session. Braema Mathi, Chairperson of AWARE’s CEDAW Shadow Report Committee, was AWARE's representative and advocated on the issues with the CEDAW Committee in its NGO consultative process.

AWARE hopes to see three outcomes:

1. remove the blanket reservations on Articles 2 and 16
2. gender sensitization courses for all officers in the civil service and well-resourced National Machinery that ensures that Gender is mainstreamed into policies
3. Trafficking – Singapore reviews its position on becoming a signatory to the Optional Protocol on Trafficking.

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