White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development: Leon Perera on tackling sexual harassment, plight of foreign spouses

More can be done to combat the problem of sexual harassment - specifically, verbal abuse and inappropriate behaviour. The Government can nudge employers to adopt clear guidelines on sexual harassment in the workplace, such as by making this a requirement or plus point when awarding large public contracts and economic incentives. The Ministry of Education should also be “more prescriptive” in requiring Institutes of Higher Learning to adhere to minimum standards of compliance on sexual harassment - for example, by implementing a national code of conduct. These ideas were offered by MP Leon Perera in Parliament on Tuesday (Apr 5). He also raised the issue of the uncertain immigration status of foreign spouses with Singaporean children, which has implications for their access to housing options, legal employment, healthcare and social welfare assistance. Mr Perera suggested introducing a points-based system to prioritise those with a better claim to become citizens, such as individuals who have skillsets that are in short supply in Singapore.