What are there marital rape statistics in Singapore?
Publicly available data is unclear because marital rape is technically not a crime and social stigma prevents victims from sharing their experience. However, evidence suggests that marital rape takes place on a significant scale. 2003 saw 1,504 applications for personal protection orders with regards to family violence in Singapore4, and most orders were taken out for spousal violence against women5. Violence is unsurprisingly the second highest factor cited for women divorcing their husbands6. Most significant in the qualitative research of this violence are recorded cases of husbands forcing wives to have sex during pregnancy7, and the case of marital rape, “PP v N”8. In that case, marital rape immunity meant that only lesser charges could be brought against the plaintiff. Although this happened before the changes in the law in 2007 (see Question 5), the same result would occur under the current law. In the judgment for this case, then-Chief Justice Yong Pung How remarked: “an offenc
