PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON DRAFT WOMEN’S CHARTER (AMENDMENT) BILL 2015

The Women’s Charter Bill is being amended to (a) be more child-centric, (b) place family as the first line of defence in the maintenance of spouses, (c) strenghten the protection of women, girls and professionals, and, (d) uphold the institution of marriage by voiding convicted “Marriage(s) of Convenience”. Have your say in whether the amendments to the Women’s Charter Bill will effectively meet these objectives! Public consultation is open from 3 to 23 November 2014.

INTRODUCTION
1.  The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) invites the public to give feedback on the draft Women’s Charter (Amendment) Bill.

SCOPE OF THE CONSULTATION EXERCISE

2.  MSF proposes to amend the Women’s Charter in three areas:

(I)	Enhancing Child-centricity in divorce through Mandatory Parenting Programme for divorcing parents;
(II)	Maintenance for incapacitated men who cannot work; and
(III)	Enhancing protection for women, girls, residents at places of safety and professionals engaged in protection work.

3.  The  summary table lists all the changes and explains the amendments to the Women’s Charter.

PERIOD OF CONSULTATION

4.  The period of consultation is from 18 November 2014 to 9 December 2014.

FEEDBACK CHANNEL

5.  We encourage all interested participants to submit your comments via the following channels:

•	email to msf_fdg@msf.gov.sg;
•	fax to: 6354 9868, or,
•	post to: Family Policy Unit Ministry of Social and Family Development 512 Thomson Road, #04-00 Singapore 298136

SUMMARY OF RESPONSES

6.  We will publish a summary of the main comments we receive on the  REACH website, together with our responses. The identity of respondents will not be disclosed in the summary.

DOCUMENTS TO DOWNLOAD

7.  For further reference, please click here to download the relevant documents relating to this public consultation exercise.

SUMMARY TABLE ON WOMEN’S CHARTER AMENDMENTS