SINGAPORE – A Singaporean man was convicted in April of sexually assaulting his wife by penetration, becoming the only husband convicted of the offence against his wife since marital immunity for rape was fully repealed in 2020.
The Straits Times understands that no husband has been convicted of the separate offence of marital rape since the law came into effect on Jan 1 that year.
The issue of marital rape came up when Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling said at the 88th session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw), held in Geneva on May 16, that Singapore had fully repealed marital immunity for rape.
Ms Sun said: “In 2019, in line with the committee’s (Cedaw) recommendation, we fully repealed marital immunity for rape. This year, for the first time, we convicted a man of the sexual assault of his wife.”
Lawyer Sophia Ng explained that sexual assault by penetration occurs when some body part or object – other than the penis – is used to penetrate the victim without consent.
Rape happens when a man penetrates the victim’s vagina, anus or mouth with his penis without her consent. When the couple is married, this is known as marital rape, said Ms Ng of law firm Eugene Thuraisingam LLP.
Associate Professor Mervyn Cheong, deputy director at the Centre for Pro Bono and Clinical Legal Education at the National University of Singapore Law Faculty, noted that in Singapore, the first legislative reform on the issue of marital rape happened in 2007, when there was a partial abolition of marital immunity for rape.
This was when marital rape was recognised under certain circumstances which signalled a breakdown in the marriage, such as if the couple were living apart under an interim judgment of divorce or the wife had a personal protection order against her husband.
In 2018, a committee tasked to review the Penal Code called for a “full, unqualified repeal of marital immunity for rape” to protect women from sexual abuse.
Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said then: “A woman’s body is her own. And even if she is your wife, she is entitled to say ‘no’. And no means no.”
In 2019, marital immunity for rape was fully repealed and this came into effect in 2020. This meant that a husband who had non-consensual sex with his wife under any circumstances would be considered as having raped her, Prof Cheong said.
Husbands do not have any marital immunity for sexually assaulting their wives by penetration, lawyers say.
Prof Cheong said: “A husband, who forcefully engages in non-consensual anal or oral sex with his wife, can be prosecuted and found guilty of sexual assault by penetration.”
The Straits Times understands the case Ms Sun was referring to on May 16 involved a 38-year-old man who was convicted of sexually assaulting his wife by penetration and obstructing justice by asking his mother-in-law to get his wife to drop her allegations against him.
The man lived apart from his wife owing to conflict, but he sexually assaulted her when he went home for a family meeting. She fled to the toilet to hide from him, and she later filed a police report.
The couple, who are still married, have two children. The man is awaiting sentencing.