UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 51) Singapore supported Recommendations 94.13, 94.23-24 and 95.7-10 because we are fully committed to ensure that women and girls are protected, supported and empowered. Equal opportunities are available to all citizens, irrespective of their gender. Singapore is ranked 15th out of 152 countries on the Gender Inequality Index in the 2014 UN Human Development Report. We are also ranked 14th out of 179 countries in the 2015 State of the World's Mothers Report.

Para 53) Women are better represented and occupy important positions in the public, corporate and civil society sectors today, although representation at the higher corporate levels can be further improved. The Public Service tries to lead the way on this front. As of 2014, women constituted 56.7% of the Civil Service. 6 of the 23 Permanent Secretaries and 9 of the 32 Deputy Secretaries were women. Women made up 23% of the judges in the Supreme Court, and 48%, 69% and 48% of the total number of judicial officers in the State Courts, Family Justice Courts and Supreme Court respectively. Half of the officers in the Foreign Service are women. We now have many inspiring examples of women in leadership positions in public life. Singapore's first female Speaker of Parliament, Madam Halimah Yacob, was appointed in January 2013. There are currently one female Minister, four female Senior Ministers of State, and one female Parliamentary Secretary in the Government. 2 out of our 5 mayors are women.

Para 54) Women tend to shoulder disproportionate responsibility for care of the family. We are therefore doing more to reduce the workfamily trade-offs that many Singaporean women continue to face. We have made it easier for fathers to take leave from work so that they can shoulder more parenting responsibilities. In 2013, the Government introduced one week of Government-Paid Paternity Leave and one week of Government-Paid Shared Parental Leave. The Paternity Leave scheme was further extended to two weeks in 2015. This enhanced scheme will first be implemented by the Civil Service. Companies will be given more time to adjust their policies and can adopt the additional week of paternity leave on a voluntary basis for now. We also encourage companies to offer flexible work arrangements.

Para 55) The practice of Muslim law in Singapore is progressive, and takes into account evolving societal contexts and norms. The fatwa (religious ruling) on revocable insurance nomination was updated in February 2012 to allow Muslim policy holders to nominate their spouse or dependants to receive the full payout from the insurance company as a valid inter vivos gift. Before this policy change, a Muslim man could not leave his insurance company payout to his wife and children even if he wished. This new fatwa enables Muslims to secure the rights of their spouses and dependants through properly planned nominations according to civil law and in line with the objectives and spirit of Muslim family law.

Para 57) Support for foreign spouses of Singaporeans. The rate of transnational marriages in Singapore continues to grow and 31% of marriages in 2014 involved a Singaporean and a non-Singaporean (often the female partner). To help these foreign spouses of Singaporeans integrate into Singapore society, we introduced a Marriage Support Programme in 2014 to help couples address the unique challenges of transnational marriages. The programme, inter alia, teaches the foreign spouses basic conversational skills and provides advice on employment issues. The Ministry of Manpower also allows foreign spouses with a Long Term Visit Pass to apply for jobs in Singapore.

UN Compilation:
Para 8) The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women welcomed amendments made to the ... Women's Charter; and the Children and Young Persons Act, which protected girls and young women against abuse, neglect and exploitation.

Para 11) While noting the redesignation of the Women's Desk as the Office for Women's Development on 1 July 2011, the same Committee was concerned about the Office's limited authority, resources and capacity to ensure that gender equality policies were fully implemented ...

Para 26) The CEDAW noted with appreciation the efforts to revise discriminatory legislation and align Syariah law with civil law. It remained deeply concerned at the preservation of the dual marriage regime and the discriminatory provisions that persisted in the laws relating to marriage, divorce and nationality that denied women equal rights with men. It was concerned at the lack of free choice of adjudication between Syariah Court and family court ...

Para 45) UNESCO noted that, since the first cycle of the universal periodic review, no specific additional measures had been taken to ensure education for all, particularly for poor children, persons with disabilities and persons living with HIV/AIDS, to promote and guarantee gender equality in educational institutions, and to ensure human rights education and training for the judiciary and law enforcement officials.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 12) JS3 stated that although section 377A of the Penal Code, criminalising consensual sexual behaviour between adult males, had not been enforced since the last universal periodic review of Singapore in 2016, its continued existence permitted the institutionalisation of discriminatory policies against not just gay men, but the whole lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) community.
Para 40) JS4 stated that the stigma of being LGBTQ, associated with Penal Code Section 377A and media censorship, was a contributing factor in the failure to report or seek help when abused.

National Report:
Para 16) The Inter-Ministry Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) monitors the implementation of Singapore’s CEDAW obligations. The CEDAW Committee considered Singapore’s fifth periodic report (CEDAW/C/SGP/5) in 2017. In 2020, Singapore launched the Conversations on Singapore Women’s Development, a national conversation series to gather feedback from thousands of Singaporeans on issues concerning women at home, at work, in schools, and in the community. The Conversations will culminate in a White Paper to be submitted to Parliament in 2021, with recommendations and a roadmap to further advance women’s protection, interests, and development in Singapore. Para 17) Increasing participation. Singapore actively supports women’s participation in politics and in public service. In 2017, Singapore’s first female President, Halimah Yacob, took office. In 2020, 28 out of 95 Members of Parliament (29%) were women, greater than the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s world average of 24.5%. Currently, we have nine women out of 37 political office-holders. Women also make up 53% of the Public Service (as of 2019). The Council for Board Diversity, formed in January 2019, promotes greater representation of women on boards of listed companies, statutory boards, and non-profit organisations.
Para 18) Support for women in the society and family. Many women continue to shoulder many household and caregiving responsibilities. We have continued to enhance measures to promote sharing of domestic and family responsibilities, such as flexible work arrangements (FWAs). From 2018 to 2020, we committed more than S$200 million (US$152 million) in financial grants and developed practical guides to support employers in implementing and sustaining FWAs. Since 2017, fathers have enjoyed two weeks of paid paternity leave and can share up to four weeks of their spouses’ maternity leave. Under the national movement, “Dads for Life”, we have rolled out initiatives, such as “Dads@School”, to promote active fathering. Since 2017, single mothers also enjoy the same infant care and childcare subsidies and maternity leave as married mothers.
Para 19) Islamic law is applied for certain religious and personal matters pertaining to Muslims in Singapore. The application of Islamic law in Singapore takes into account evolving societal contexts and norms. For instance, in May 2019, the fatwa (religious ruling) on joint tenancy was revised to recognise joint tenancy contracts as religiously valid, without the need for additional documents to effect the right of survivorship. This protects Muslim widows, in particular, from financial distress and uncertainty.
Para 122) … Taking stock of our progress against international measures, Singapore ranks: … (f) 12th for gender equality in the 2019 UN Gender Inequality Index.

UN Compilation:
Para 21) The Independent Expert on older persons noted that although the Constitution guaranteed equality for all persons, it did not explicitly recognize equality on the basis of sex.
Para 75) The Independent Expert on older persons noted the persistence of patriarchal attitudes and deep-rooted stereotypes regarding the roles and responsibilities of women and men within the family and in society at large. She stated that such stereotypes were not only a root cause of violence against women in the private and public spheres, but also placed women in a disadvantaged position, including in the labour market.
Para 82) [CEDAW] remained concerned that women continued to be underrepresented in ministerial posts, the judiciary, the police and the diplomatic service, in particular at decision-making levels.
Para 83) The ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations noted that in 2017 the median gross monthly salary of women employed in the same occupational category as men was systematically lower than that of men, except for clerical support workers, among whom it was slightly higher.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 107) MARUAH stated that women in Singapore were still under-represented politically and in the workforce, and recommended that the Government actively push for gender parity.
Para 108) JS4 stated that Singapore did not have any policies that prohibited gender-based discrimination at the workplace.
Para 109) JS6 stated that women were paid less than men for similar work performed, and that sectors where women were concentrated were often lowly-paid. Gender discrimination and the gender wage gap affected women’s retirement savings.