Decisive moves towards gender equality

The long-anticipated White Paper on Singapore Women's Development, submitted to Parliament on Monday, represents another milestone on the journey to gender equality that began in 1961 with the adoption of the Women's Charter. Even before Independence, Singapore was progressive enough to embrace legislation that regulated relations between husband and wife and parents and children, the termination of marriages and division of matrimonial assets, among other kinds of protection. Much has changed over the past six decades as the rights of women have come to be understood more broadly as an ineradicable part of the rights of citizens to equality and fairness.

However, a gulf remained between aspirational justice and actual practices. In a sign of the times, Singapore has once again taken a progressive view on extending better support to women at the workplace and at home - two arenas in which social progress is inconceivable without the active participation of those who hold up half the sky. The White Paper comes after more than a year of discussions aimed at ensuring a fair and inclusive society in which all citizens can realise their full potential. It lays out a 10-year road map that will see greater support for flexible work arrangements, more help for caregivers, and swifter intervention in cases of violence.