This post was originally published as a press release on 3 June 2021.

3 June 2021 – The divorce process in Singapore should be amended in order to lessen animosity between separating parents and children, recognise the decision-making autonomy of assenting adults, and avoid protracted situations of family violence.

Gender-equality organisation AWARE made recommendations to this effect in a submission today to the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) for its consultation paper on how to better support children and divorcees, and reduce acrimony in divorce. For this submission, AWARE drew upon the experiences of clients at its Women’s Care Centre and Sexual Assault Care Centre, as well as the professional insights of family lawyers (both AWARE volunteers and 18 respondents to a 2021 survey about the Women’s Charter).

MSF has proposed the introduction of a new amicable divorce option, a move that met with strong approval from AWARE and the consulted lawyers. Under the current system of divorce, the need to assign “fault” during divorce makes the process far more acrimonious than it might otherwise be.

The current time bar—prohibiting the commencement of divorce proceedings during the first three years of marriage—has also made divorce more painful for some, who feel trapped in an unhappy or abusive marriage. AWARE recommended reducing this three-year bar to a one- or, at most, a two-year period, in line with the approach adopted in jurisdictions such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

“We understand the Government’s desire to protect the institution of marriage and not make divorce easy,” said AWARE Executive Director Corinna Lim, “but we urge a reconsideration of the three-year time bar. We know women and men are marrying later in life and thus getting divorced later, too. Decreasing the time bar to a year, as we recommend, would give these individuals a chance to form another family unit sooner rather than later.”

While the submission recognised the efforts made to strengthen Singapore’s maintenance regime, including the establishment of the Maintenance Support Central, AWARE pointed out that the enforcement of maintenance orders remains a problem for many women, whose ex-partners persistently dodge paying spousal or child support. Nearly 3 in 4 family lawyers surveyed by AWARE reported that their clients have dealt with continued non-compliance by their ex-partners even after court orders were enforced. This has ramifications not only for the relationship between ex-partners, but also the well-being of their children.

AWARE suggested that the Singapore courts empower a separate body to enforce maintenance orders with more robust and proactive measures, and handle other related matters. The organisation also suggested that the courts set out clear principles—e.g. in a “Guide to Maintenance Awards”—for greater consistency and transparency on the determination of maintenance; and that maintenance claims be made gender-neutral and strictly based on need, so that male spouses have equal rights to claim maintenance.

Lastly, AWARE highlighted migrant spouses as a group particularly disadvantaged in divorce. Migrant spouses struggle to navigate the local legal system, obtain affordable legal aid and retain their right to reside in Singapore during divorce proceedings. This causes much stress and impacts their ability to obtain custody of their children. Measures to equalise the playing field for divorcing migrant spouses include providing low/pro bono legal aid and helplines, an online information portal and information sessions. The government could also automatically grant Long-Term Visit Passes to all migrant spouses of citizens, and allowed abused persons to renew their passes independently of their citizen spouses.

“Divorce takes a huge toll—psychologically, practically, financially—on the parties involved,” said Ms Lim. “It is not an outcome that anybody wishes for or enters enthusiastically if they can help it. Yet for many adults and children, divorce represents the light at the end of a dark, stifling tunnel: a relief from their troubles and a chance to start anew. Our respect for the institution of marriage must go hand in hand with, and indeed be informed by, the recognition that those unsuited as spouses should have a means to rectify their situations as painlessly as possible.”

Read AWARE’s full submission to MSF here.