A CAMPAIGN to make marital rape a crime is gathering steam on the Internet. More than 1,000 people have signed a petition that will be handed to the Prime Minister.

The organisers of the 'No To Rape' campaign - three young professionals - are asking the Government to abolish a controversial law that grants immunity to husbands who force their wives to have sex with them.

Signatories of the petition launched on July 1 include former Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong , law academic Chan Wing Cheong, playwright Ovidia Yu and TV host Anita Kapoor.

The issue was a hot topic in and out of Parliament when the Penal Code came under review two years ago. MPs and civil society groups had called for the exemption to be thrown out. The statute, handed down from colonial days, was tweaked then to offer some protection to a married woman under certain circumstances, such as when she has applied for divorce or a personal protection order.

But that was clearly not enough for the organisers. 'The reason we're seeking a change in law is that the current provisions are inadequate,' said Ms Wong Pei Chi, 25, a bank officer and one of the organisers. She said any rape is a physical assault.

Since the legal review two years ago, Ms Wong and two friends - Ms Jolene Tan, 26, a charity fund-raiser based in Britain, and Mr Mark Wong, 28, a freelance designer - began to research the topic and put the campaign together. They have since launched a website, notorape.com, started a Facebook group and are on Twitter.

In their research, the trio found that while there are no statistics on marital rape cases in Singapore, police figures showed that in an overwhelming majority of rapes, the victims knew the attackers. The number of legal protection orders taken up here - 2,500 in 2007 - also suggested marital rape could be an issue.

One victim, a mother of three, said she had no recourse during her 12-year marriage, which ended in 1997 when she walked out. 'I hope the law can be changed to protect all women,' said the 57-year-old secretary, who declined to be named.

Ms Kerry Wilcock, manager of direct services at women's welfare organisation the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware), said many women here are unfamiliar with their rights and do not usually seek help for marital rape.

She has seen only one case recently - a Chinese national in her 30s married to a Singaporean man who sexually abused her every night. 'The authorities see rape as a seizable offence only after physical violence has happened in a marriage. That's the problem now,' said Ms Wilcock.

Read the full story in The Sunday Times.

dawntan@sph.com.sg