(VCGH) under Section 322. With
regard to legal procedures, the
police can only arrest someone
without a warrant for the latter. They
are unable to arrest someone in the
first instance.
So, for the above woman’s husband
to be arrested on the spot, grievous
hurt had to be inflicted. That means
the woman had to suffer permanent
injuries, or as a result of the violence,
be hospitalised for a minimum of
20 days. Since she only received a
few bruises and required no serious
medical attention, it was a case of
VCH. The policemen had their hands
tied and could only refer her to the
civil defence force, where she can get
a medical assessment to apply for a
Personal Protection Order (PPO).
Restricted by law not to interfere
in domestic disputes, many police
officers have found loopholes within
the legal system to serve justice
in areas the law overlooked. While
they are not allowed to forcefully
enter houses to stop disputes, many
have adopted the tactic of luring the
perpetuator to a common place, such
as the corridor or street, based on
anecdotal evidence and first-hand
accounts from police officers. They
can then arrest them on the basis
of “Breach of Peace” – where one
is causing disturbance to the public
in general. Although the underlying
message (being a public nuisance is
of greater weightage than someone’s
personal safety in the eyes of the
law) is almost ludicrous, it remains
the most effective way to arrest the
perpetuator. Even then, it remains
fully at the police’s initiative.
Courts of Singapore, out of the 81% of
female complainants, 71% earn less
than S$1,500 a month. Dependent on
their spouses for financial support
in raising children, many choose to
keep mum about the situation after
considering the dependants they have.
Children are not the only
consideration victims have in putting
an end to domestic violence. The
government, too, objected to bills
that focus on family violence; in
1995, the Singapore Parliament
regrettably quashed a Family Violence
Bill. Tellingly, former Member of
Parliament Bernard Chen had said
that “the very act of going to court
will break up the family”. Having said
that, portions of the proposed Bill
were incorporated into the Women’s
Charter in 1996.
1
Society tends to view the man as
the more masculine figure of the
family and is able to protect himself
against assault. However, there are
many areas of violence that men
can be exposed to that have no legal
implications, such as verbal/emotional
violence, psychological violence and
sexual violence.
Sexual violence makes quite the
interesting case study.
Physical Violence
The use of force on another person to instil fear in them and to
control them.
Examples of physical violence include pushing, pulling,
slapping, pinching, punching, strangulation, throwing things at
someone or hitting another person with an object (e.g. a book),
kicking and stepping on a person.
2
Verbal/Emotional Violence
The use of vulgar or insulting words, put downs or curses on
another person to hurt them and cause them to feel low
and unworthy.
Let us now hypothetically assume that
the woman mentioned above had been
grievously injured and remained in
the hospital for the minimal 20 days.
Will she be able to formally charge
her husband in court?
Examples of verbal/emotional violence include rejecting or
withdrawing affection or love from someone, using words or
phrases like ‘stupid’, ‘prostitute’, ‘idiot’, ‘you should just die’
and so on
3
In the context of child abuse, it could also include “persistent
hostility, ignoring, blaming, discriminating or blatant rejection
of the child.”
Psychological Violence
The use of threats to instil fear in another person and to
control them.
Examples of psychological violence are the use of knife or
weapons, the threat o