Women's Charter Personal Protection Order- Contact us to find out more!

Many clients are keen to know more about the Women’s Charter Personal Protection Order.

What is the Women’s Charter Personal Protection Order?

Essentially, if you have been hurt, placed in fear of hurt, wrongfully restrained/ confined or continually harassed by a family member, you can make an application for a personal protection order.

Family members include your spouse, ex-spouse, parents, children, and parents-in-law.

If you are granted a personal protection order, and the aggressor contravenes the order, he/ she may be charged. If the aggressor is found guilty, he/ she may be fined and/ or jailed.

Repeat offenders will be punished more severely.

Other than a personal protection order, you may also be granted a domestic exclusion order if you share a home with the aggressor. This will give you the right of exclusive occupation to the shared home or a part of it.

Why apply for a Women’s Charter Personal Protection Order?

You may wonder if you really need a personal protection order.

Recently, a 35-year-old single mother was convicted of child abuse. Noraidah Mohd Yussof had abused her 4-year-old son Airyl to death. Her jail term was increased to 14.5 years by the Court of Appeal from 8 years. Noraidah had pushed Airyl to the ground and stomped on his knees after he failed to learn to count in Malay. She later grabbed Airyl’s neck, lifted him and held him up against the wall. Airyl fell to the floor, unconscious, after Noraidah let go.

Airyl died from a brain injury and fractured skull. This was not a one-off assault.

Noraidah had previously:

Stood on Airyl’s stomach;
Assaulted him for urinating on the floor and not being able to recite the alphabet;
Shoved Airyl to the ground and twisted his arm, causing him to suffer multiple fractures.

See: Vanessa Paige Chelvan, “Mother’s jail term for child abuse nearly doubled to 14 and a half years”, The Straits Times, 6 July 2017

Airyl’s case was tragic. A young boy’s life was lost needlessly.

If somebody had reported the matter to the police or applied for a Women’s Charter Personal Protection Order on his behalf, the tragedy could have been prevented.

While a Women’s Charter Personal Protection Order will not send the aggressor to jail, relevant authorities will be alerted and attention can be paid to the case. Tragedies like Airyl’s case may then be prevented.

If you have more questions relating to the topic of Women’s Charter Personal Protection Order, we can offer more information. Contact us today!