White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development: Sylvia Lim on strong stance against family violence and harm

Victims of family violence wear a neck pendant alarm that they can activate when they are under threat. It opens a voice channel for Police to assess the situation and decide if there is a need for rapid response. This immensely reduced crime, and improved the quality of life for the victims and their children. MP Sylvia Lim cited this initiative in the UK to show what a strong commitment to bringing down family violence might entail. She asked if Singapore’s agencies would be innovating their own preventive strategies, particularly for serious cases. Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday (Apr 5), she stressed the need to step up to ensure that women in the workplace do not face undue pressure, such as unwarranted contact from male superiors and loaded comments which amount to outrage of modesty. She also reiterated that standard setting in public policy requires gender-aggregated data and significant women participation in political leadership.