New harassment law could be enacted soon in S'pore

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New harassment law could be enacted soon in S'pore
By Imelda Saad
POSTED: 26 Feb 2014 12:12
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...d/1012870.html

SINGAPORE: New laws will soon be in place to give better protection to victims of cyber-bullying and stalking.

The Protection from Harassment Bill, to be tabled in Parliament on Monday, will make harassment an offence - both in the physical and online world.

30-year-old "Mary" was a victim of cyber-stalking two years ago.

For two weeks, she was inundated with emails, Facebook messages, and even nasty calls and SMSes from a so-called "admirer".

She said: "He would say in his message, ‘I know where you are now, I know what you are doing’. I felt so scared because I didn't know whether he will come to my office, or come to my house and do something stupid."

The messages and calls stopped when “Mary” changed her number and social media settings.

But till today, “Mary” is still scared, because her stalker knows her, her family, and where she lives.

Corinna Lim, executive director of AWARE, said: "What the woman feels is a sense of helplessness. Sometimes she doesn't go to the police because she doesn't think the police can help and even those cases that go to the police, under the current law, the police don't really have the power to help them."

AWARE handled nine cases of cyber-harassment and 45 cases of sexual harassment last year.

This is up from seven cases of cyber-harassment and 22 cases of sexual harassment in 2012.

Current laws under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order & Nuisance) Act are vague when it comes to cyber-bullying and stalking.

Wendell Wong, director of dispute resolution at Drew & Napier, said: "In terms of the current law, there is really no one piece of legislation that criminalises stalking and criminal intimidation may be at a different threshold and so with this new act, what the law will seek to do is to make clear what that threshold is."

Under the new Bill, stalking, including loitering near a victim's home or messaging the victim every day, will be criminalised.

The new laws make it clear that as long as the act is threatening, abusive, insulting and causes distress to victims, it is harassment - even if it is done online.

Mr Wong said: "In other words, what is not acceptable in the physical world is equally not acceptable in the online world. So what this means is that there will be tools that potential victims can avail themselves to."

As cyber-bullying will be made an offence, the law will strive to strike a balance when it comes to dealing with offenders who are children, who may not know that what they do online may constitute as harassment.

In such cases, the court may issue community orders like psychiatric treatment, counselling or probation.

Mr Wong said: "I think we have to be very sensitive when we approach young offenders and certainly in terms of children and offenders who may still be in school, we would hope and expect that authorities would approach such cases with the right touch.

“But currently, below a certain age, the offenders will go through the juvenile courts so there'll be a different regime, the sort of sanctions that the juvenile court can mete out is certainly different. But I think really what we hope to achieve with this new piece of legislation is a sense of awareness and education and we have to be very alive to the dangers of cyber-bullying, especially in schools."

[BubbleBubble]

Finally... people can talk more freely.

[Aris]

Anton Casey is back, so it seems and just in time.

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Protection from Harassment Act: 5 things you need to know about the landmark legislation
PUBLISHED ON JAN 15, 2015 1:41 PM
BY JALELAH ABU BAKER

SINGAPORE - A district court on Wednesday ordered doctor K. Paramesvaran to remove the captions he had put into two videos that he uploaded detailing his run-in with Frenchman Yannick Pierre Yves Le Borgne at a Caltex station last April. The order is an interim one until the case is settled in court.

It is believed to be the first time that a court issued an expedited protection order (EPO) under the Protection from Harassment Act. The expedited order works on a temporary basis to prevent further alleged harassment until a case is settled.

The Protection from Harassment Act, a landmark legislation, came into force here in November 2014. According to the State Courts, between Nov 15 and Jan 7, there were 79 Magistrate's Complaints for harassment, which relate to criminal cases. There were also 13 applications for Protection Orders under Originating Summons, which are civil remedies. Three Protection Orders have been issued by the State Courts, and the remainder of the cases are ongoing.

The Ministry of Law says the law seeks to better protect people from harassment and related anti-social behaviour.

Here are 5 things about the Protection from Harassment Act:

1. Act will protect victims of all types of harassment, including stalking

The Act, which was passed by Parliament on March 13, 2014, will provide civil and criminal recourse for victims of harassment. It will help victims of harassment, alarm or distress, fear, provocation, and stalking. The Ministry of Law worked with agencies and stakeholders such as the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Education, social welfare agencies and the Courts to develop the detailed rules and processes for dealing with the various forms of harassment behaviours.

2. Victims may apply directly to the Court for a Protection Order

The Protection Order will direct the harasser to stop the harassing behaviour. The Protection Order can also put a stop to the spread of harassing communication by others who re-publish the communication. In urgent cases, the Court may grant a temporary Expedited Protection Order on the spot.

3. Victims of false statements of facts alleged against him or her can seek recourse

If the victim can prove in court that the statements are false, the Court can direct the publication of a suitable notification which alerts readers that the statements are false. The form of notification will be at the discretion of the Court.

4. The Act applies both to the physical world and online world, and may also apply out of Singapore

Whether the harassment is committed in the physical world or online, it will fall under the Act. The Act will also apply to offences committed outside Singapore as long as certain conditions are satisfied. For example, where an offender who is overseas stalks a victim who is in Singapore, and the offender knew or ought to have known that the victim would be in Singapore when doing so, he may be found guilty of the offence of stalking.

5. Penalties include fines and jail terms

Breaches of Protection Orders or Expedited Protection Orders may amount to criminal offences. Penalties for convictions range from fines not exceeding $5,000 to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both. For repeat offenders, this increases to $10,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.

[Auratus]

Like that, SMRT feedback, no teeth to bite liao.

SLS can start scamming again.