The Protection from Harassment Act 2014, usually shortened to POHA, is Singapore’s law for harassment, stalking and threatening behaviour where the parties are not family members. It exists because the Personal Protection Order regime under the Women’s Charter only applies to family violence between people who fall within that Act’s definition of family, so it does nothing for an ex-partner you never married, a neighbour, a colleague, or an anonymous account posting about you online.
If you are being harassed, the first practical question is not what remedy to ask for but which Act applies to your situation. Get that wrong and you can spend weeks in the wrong forum. If you are in immediate danger, call the police on 999. For support at any hour, the National Anti-Violence and Sexual Harassment Helpline is 1800 777 0000.
POHA or the Women’s Charter: how to tell
The dividing line is the relationship between you and the person harassing you.
| Your situation | Likely route |
|---|---|
| Spouse or former spouse | Women’s Charter: Personal Protection Order |
| Parent, child, sibling, or other relative within the family definition | Women’s Charter: Personal Protection Order |
| Ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend you were never married to | POHA |
| Neighbour | POHA |
| Colleague, supervisor or client | POHA |
| Stranger, online account, or someone you cannot identify | POHA |
| A person harassing you on behalf of a family member | Check both; advice is worth getting |
The Women’s Charter definition of family members is set out in the Act itself and is narrower than the everyday sense of “family”. If your situation falls inside it, the applicable route is the one described in the guide to applying for a Personal Protection Order, and the wider context is set out in family violence in Singapore. If it falls outside, POHA is your route.
Where you are genuinely unsure, for instance a long-term partner you lived with but never married, check before filing. The court staff can tell you which forum handles your type of application, and getting it right the first time saves considerable time.
What POHA covers
The Act addresses a range of conduct, broadly:
- Harassment, alarm or distress caused by threatening, abusive or insulting words, behaviour or communications.
- Unlawful stalking: a course of conduct such as following someone, repeated unwanted contact, loitering near their home or workplace, or keeping them under surveillance.
- Threatening behaviour, including conduct likely to cause a person to believe unlawful violence will be used against them.
- False statements of fact about a person, where the Act provides remedies aimed at correction and at stopping further publication.
- Doxxing: publishing a person’s identity information with the intention of causing harassment, alarm or distress, or of facilitating violence against them.
Conduct carried out electronically is squarely within scope. Messaging apps, social media, forums, review sites and email are all covered, and so is harassment routed through someone else’s account.
Where POHA is not the answer
POHA is not a general remedy for every unpleasant interaction. A single rude exchange, a business dispute conducted in blunt terms, or criticism you find unfair will not usually meet the threshold. The Act targets conduct that causes harassment, alarm or distress, and courts look at what actually happened rather than at how strongly you feel about it. Where the conduct is criminal in a more serious way, such as assault, threats of violence, or sexual offences, that belongs with the police first.
Protection Orders and Expedited Protection Orders
The main civil remedy is a Protection Order. In general terms it can require the other person to stop the harassing conduct, and it can be framed to prohibit specific behaviour: contacting you, coming near your home or workplace, publishing material about you. Orders can also be directed at third parties in some circumstances, for example requiring the removal of offending online content.
Where the matter is urgent and there is a risk of harm, the court can make an Expedited Protection Order. This is interim relief granted quickly, sometimes before the other party has been heard, to hold the position until the full application is decided. It is temporary by design and is reviewed at the substantive hearing.
Breaching a Protection Order is itself an offence. That is what gives the order practical force: once it is in place, a further incident becomes a matter the police can act on directly, rather than another entry in a long log.
The Protection from Harassment Court
Applications are dealt with by a specialist court set up to handle harassment matters. Two features of it are worth knowing.
First, the process was designed to be usable without a lawyer. Forms are simplified and the procedure is streamlined, and a large proportion of applicants act for themselves. That is a deliberate policy choice: harassment cases are often urgent and involve people who cannot readily fund litigation.
Second, the court is built for speed on urgent applications, which is why expedited relief exists as a distinct step. Filing routes, forms and current procedure are published by the Singapore Courts at judiciary.gov.sg, and the Act itself is available on sso.agc.gov.sg. Check both for the current position before you file, since procedure is updated from time to time.
Legal representation still helps in some situations: where the facts are strongly disputed, where the other side is represented, where there are parallel proceedings such as an employment or defamation matter, or where the harassment is bound up with a family case. If you want advice on your own situation, we can connect you with a licensed Singapore law practice.
Evidence: gather it before you file
Harassment cases are won and lost on records. What to collect:
- Screenshots showing context. Capture the account name or number, the message content, and the date and time in a single image. A cropped line of text proves very little.
- A chronological log. One line per incident: date, time, place, what happened, who saw it. Keep it factual.
- Original files. Keep the messages, emails and voicemails themselves, not only screenshots. Do not delete threads because they are distressing to look at.
- Third-party records. Police report numbers, building management or condominium correspondence, HR complaints, medical notes if the stress has affected your health.
- Web content. Save the full page and the URL for anything posted publicly. Material can be deleted the moment proceedings start.
- Witnesses. Note who observed each incident. Neighbours and colleagues are often the most useful witnesses in POHA cases.
A pattern is usually more persuasive than any single incident, particularly for stalking, where the conduct is defined by repetition. Five documented incidents over two months carry more weight than a general account of months of trouble.
Criminal offences and police reports
POHA is not purely civil. It creates criminal offences, including offences relating to causing harassment, alarm or distress, threatening or abusive behaviour, unlawful stalking, and breaching a Protection Order. Penalties are set out in the Act and can include fines and imprisonment depending on the offence and any prior conviction.
That means two tracks are available and they are not alternatives:
- The police deal with criminal conduct. Make a report, and get the report number.
- The court deals with your application for a Protection Order, which is what stops the conduct going forward.
Many people report to the police and are told the matter may be better addressed by a Protection Order. That is not a dismissal of your complaint; it reflects that a civil order is often the more effective tool for ongoing harassment, while criminal action addresses what has already happened.
False statements
POHA also deals with false statements of fact about a person. The remedies here are oriented towards correction, stopping further publication and requiring that the falsehood be addressed, rather than towards damages, which is the territory of defamation law.
This part of the Act is often relevant where the harassment takes the form of a campaign: false accusations posted publicly, fabricated reviews of a business, or messages sent to an employer or to family members. Keep the material and record how widely it circulated.
Practical steps in order
- If you are in immediate danger, call 999.
- Work out whether your situation is a POHA matter or a Women’s Charter matter, based on the relationship.
- Stop engaging. Do not reply, retaliate or post about it. Block where you can, but preserve the evidence first.
- Start the log and gather screenshots and records.
- Make a police report where the conduct is threatening or criminal, and note the report number.
- Check the current filing procedure on judiciary.gov.sg and file your application, asking for expedited relief if there is urgency.
- Once an order is made, keep a copy accessible and report any breach promptly.
- Use support services: the National Anti-Violence and Sexual Harassment Helpline on 1800 777 0000 can help you think through options at any hour.
If it turns out your situation is a family one after all, the process, evidence and remedies are different, and the place to start is the guide to Personal Protection Orders under the Women’s Charter.
