PAP wings to submit paper on furthering women's development

The People's Action Party's (PAP) Women's Wing and youth wing will present to the Government in the coming months a joint paper with proposals on furthering women's development.

In Facebook posts yesterday, PAP Women's Wing chairman Josephine Teo and Young PAP chairman Janil Puthucheary said the paper will set out recommendations on helping women thrive in a digitalised post-Covid-19 world.

Mrs Teo said the pandemic has increased the stresses and strains that women face in their careers and family life.

The paper will address three other areas, she added.

First, how to give women more choices at home, in the workplace and in society.

Second, how to promote, between men and women, more equal sharing of caregiving responsibilities for children and elders.

Third, how to rally the whole of society to advance women's development, recognising that men can also help remove barriers.

Noting that today marks the 60th anniversary of the Women's Charter, Mrs Teo and Dr Janil said they hoped the joint paper would "set new foundations for the future of women in Singapore", as the charter did in 1961.

The Women's Charter is a key piece of legislature that governs women's rights. Ms Chan Choy Siong, a PAP member and one of the first women to be elected an MP in Singapore, played a pivotal role in pushing for the law's passage.

Passed at a time when polygamous marriage was commonplace, the charter provides for monogamous marriage and the rights and duties of married people, as well as the division of matrimonial assets in the event of divorce.

It also sets out legal protections against family violence and other offences against vulnerable women and girls.

Jurong GRC MP Rahayu Mahzam, an adviser to the PAP Women's Wing, told The Straits Times that the recommendations came out of discussions and surveys conducted with members of the public earlier this year.

More than 1,500 comments and suggestions were gathered through online dialogues and a survey on caregiving created in collaboration with the National Trades Union Congress, she said.

Ms Rahayu said issues related to the perennial challenge of caregiving, which disproportionately falls on women, came up often during the discussions.

"There's a desire to make sure that there is a better balance between men and women sharing responsibilities, which links to the opportunities women are given at work," said the Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Communications and Information.

Ms Rahayu declined to reveal specific recommendations that will be made in the paper. She said they are still being refined following an online meeting between members of the women's wing and Young PAP on Saturday.

She added that she hopes the paper will be taken into consideration in the drafting of a White Paper on women's issues that will be introduced in Parliament in the second half of this year.