Tag: gender equality

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Blaze a trail this International Women’s Day

What makes you angry? What gives you hope? On International Women’s Day (8 March), join AWARE and the We Can! campaign at Hong Lim Park to explore these questions at All Fired Up! iwd-logo-1-1

This electrifying day of celebration will bring together people of all ages, genders and walks of life to share the struggles and successes of the women’s movement in Singapore.

Date: 8 March (Saturday)
Time: 4pm – 8pm
Location: Hong Lim Park
Click here to register!

Stand in solidarity with inspiring slogans and songs, or explore urgent social issues at booths set up by civil society groups. Go wild with our themed graffiti wall, and pass on the flame of hope at our candlelight vigil for the past, present and future of the women’s movement. Art, music, poetry and speeches: All Fired Up! has something for everyone.

Programme highlights:

Workshop: celebration toolkit  (4 – 5.30pm)                 feminist_fist

What’s a party without props? Join us for an afternoon of placard- and banner-making to set your message ablaze. We’ll work together to craft slogans and chants for the evening’s festivities.

Bellyful from EtiquetteSG (4 – 6pm)

Celebrate the fire in your belly! Artist and writer Dana Lam, with support from EtiquetteSG, will create plaster casts of bellies big and small of any age, colour and gender. We hope to have enough belly casts to cover the lawn for the candlelight vigil.

Women Blazing a Trail (5.30 – 7.30pm)

What makes you angry? What gives you hope? Women and their allies step up to answer these questions with honesty and verve, through speech and poetry – with slogans and chants to get everyone all fired up!

Some speaking slots are open. If you have a tale of anger and hope that you’d like to share, please contact Sumedha at [email protected] by 28 February.

Candlelight vigil for the women’s movement: past, present and future (7.30 – 8pm)  vigil

A show of unity to celebrate our past successes and get us geared up for the challenges of the future.  Old and young will stand together and share in the light of hope.

Please register for this event here. If you would like to set up a booth for your organisation at All Fired Up!, contact Sahar at [email protected].

Note: We welcome people of all nationalities to join us.  However, there may be legal limitations on participation for non-Singaporeans in some activities (e.g. slogans).  We apologise for these restrictions, which are not of our choosing.  Please do come and take part in everything else.

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Canada imageThis event is kindly supported by the High Commission of Canada.

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Supporting HPB’s initiative: Creating an inclusive and safe society for homosexual youths

by Ian Mak, Change Maker

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stop-homophobiaMuch has been said about the Health Promotion Board’s decision to release an FAQ (frequently asked questions) about homosexuality, which was aimed at providing information for parents with homosexual children and address the issue of discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in Singapore commended HPB’s move, labeling it an important first step towards helping homosexuals struggling with their sexual identity. Others, generally self-proclaimed ‘conservatives’, led by Pastor Lawrence Khong of Faith Community Baptist Church, were not so supportive. They claimed that the tone adopted by HPB was supportive of homosexuality in general and how it fundamentally damaged the moral fabric of society.

It is good to have such discourse and a wide spectrum of views. It shows that we are maturing as a society. However, the crux of the issue is for us to recognise that the LGBT community and in particular, homosexual youths, are not being accepted in our local communities. They are often discriminated in society and bear the brunt of much homophobia-fuelled violence.

Violence against homosexual youth is a result of the lack of sufficient education, information and inclusivity. From a young age, traditional norms of gender and sexuality are perpetuated via conservative sexuality education programmes in schools. Homosexuality is sneered at as an illegitimate lifestyle choice and a socially taboo topic. This creates an atmosphere of fear and judgment in schools, where homosexuals are afraid of being themselves. The failure of the education system to develop a culture of acceptance is reflected in the horrific gay bashing endured by Theo Chen, a 12-year-old student in SJI International Elementary School.

lgbt-rainbow-flag_100375401_mWorse still, families with deeply entrenched conservative values regard having homosexual children as a source of shame. It is commonplace to find openly homosexual children cut off from families who have rejected them based on their sexual orientation. Consider the case of Sham, who has been recently featured on the facebook page, ‘The People of Singapore’. A lesbian, she was forced to leave home at the age of 16. Her girlfriend has also been shunned by her family, who told Sham she should be gang raped to ‘fix her’. The experiences of Sham are very much indicative of a wider culture of intolerance and violence towards the LGBT community.

As a result, homosexual youths find it difficult to come to grips with their sexuality, and start to distrust themselves and their experiences. Bereft of support from friends, family and the government, they are often alienated and bear the brunt of violence from people influenced by homophobic rhetoric. Is it any wonder, then, that the Suicide Prevention Resource Centre estimates that between 30 to 40% of LGBT youth have attempted to take their own life?

By persisting with the status quo, we are refusing to acknowledge the discrimination and persecution that homosexual youths have to endure on a daily basis. Homophobia will continue to flourish and violence against homosexual youths will continue to be an everyday reality.

We need to tackle the root of the problem- the lack of education about homosexuality that prevents a culture of inclusivity from taking root. More than that, we need to ensure that families become more accepting towards homosexual youths, so that at the very they can cling onto their family members for support and guidance.

That is why HPB’s move to publish the FAQs about homosexuality is an important first step towards ending discrimination against homosexual youths. By developing and strengthening the support systems of homosexual youths, we are sending out a clear message that they are deeply treasured and respected members of an inclusive and accepting society. More than that, we are telling society- the lawmakers, the workers and the average joe on the street- that violence against homosexual youths can never be tolerated.

However, more needs to be done. More can be done. We have the ability, as a society, to come together to reject homophobia and violence against homosexual youths. If you are a young person in a school, be a friend to those who could be struggling with their sexual orientation. More importantly, do not tolerate any homophobic sentiment amongst your peers.

“The time time for justice, the time for freedom, the time for equality is always, is always right now!” – The Great Debaters

I am willing to play my part in stopping violence against LGBT youths. Are you?

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What young people can do to stop violence against women

by Ian Mak, Change Maker

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youth change makers“The youth of today and the youth of tomorrow will be accorded an almost unequal opportunity for great accomplishment and human service.” – Dr Nicholas Murray

 

It is often tempting as a young person to discount our power to make change. We tend to ignore daunting social problems, believing that we do not have the ability to do anything about it. “Anyway,” we think, “adults can do it better.”

 

Wrong. Youth have tremendous potential and more importantly, the unique opportunity to make a significant difference in forwarding social causes. In the days of our youth is when many of our beliefs and worldviews are solidified. If we take the effort to question and rethink the social norms and practices around us, especially where they are problematic, we will be able to make a significant breakthrough in advancing social progress. This is because, through a critical enquiry of the traditions and cultural attitudes we grow up in, we discover new ways of being and doing things that can be better for social living.

 

This is particularly true in the case of violence against women. Over the years, violence against women in societies around the world hasn’t reduced – in fact, it has increased. Violence against women isn’t about a random nutter of a husband abusing his wife. It’s about outmoded concepts of masculinity. It’s about the normalisation of men using violence against women to retain and reproduce power. It’s about the silence from friends and family members who ensure that such violence goes unreported, and, therefore, excused. It is, fundamentally, about the social tolerance of women’s suffering.

 

We can do better than that. Every generation has the power to shape its own beliefs. We can do this by interrogating the past and reimagining the future. To start with, we need to examine existing social norms that allow violence against women to occur and go unreported.

 

One idea that really needs to be reconsidered is the prevailing notion of masculinity. Through redefining masculinity, we can change the attitude of men towards women and towards each other. We must know, and let other men know, that to be masculine is not to be violent and dominant over women or other men.

 

Social progress is often only made when people come together to take a stand. Think of Martin Luther King’s civil rights movement and of Gandhi’s civil disobedience against the British monopoly of the salt trade. Youth in Singapore and across the world making a commitment not to tolerate violence against women would send out a powerful message to everyone. It would tell people that society is moving forward and that we, this generation, will not excuse violence, will not accept inequality and oppression.

 

It is not going to be easy. Familial constructs across the world designate men as the head of the household, allowing for men to be considered as superior and more powerful. On the flip side, the same familial constructs prescribe that women should be submissive, subordinate, sacrificial and silent in the face of violence because it is their responsibility to keep the family together at all costs. As a result, women find it difficult to report violence, for fear of stigma and societal condemnation.

 

The youth can play a significant role in reshaping gender relations, starting with our own attitudes and the relationships in our lives. We can also act as change makers on the ground by interrupting a friend who makes a sexist joke or gently pointing out to a couple that their relationship is unequal. Most importantly, for young men, we can collectively redefine our view of masculinity as one that does not condone violence against women.

 

These actions may be small individually, but if everyone makes an effort, we can make real progress towards ending violence against women.

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Call out for volunteer voice actors

The We Can! campaign is taking to social media to raise awareness and spark action against gender violence during the international 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence.

Starting on 25 November (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) and ending on 10 December (Human Rights Day), 16 Days of Activism hopes to raise awareness about gender-based violence as a human rights issue.

The We Can! campaign is participating by running an interactive social media campaign to bring attention to gender violence in Singapore and encourage ordinary people to take action.

We need your help. We need voice actors to record a few audio scenes for the campaign.

The sound recording will only take 1.5 to 2 hours of your time, sometime in October. We ask people of all ages, genders, and ethnicities to participate – those who can speak multiple languages are especially welcome.

If you are interested, please complete this form by Friday, 4 October.

Thank you for your help, we really look forward to hearing from you!

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Violence against women: Not just a women’s issue

men against violence against womenKen Lay, Chief Commissioner of Police in Victoria, Australia, has made family violence his signature issue. In this speech, he talks about how we misapprehend the nature of family violence, making ourselves feel safer by seeing violence as an internal domestic issue and assigning complicity to victims.

There are many myths about domestic violence that we perpetuate – the victim must have incited the abuse, she is guilty of bad judgement, if a woman’s life was endangered, she would simply leave.

Ken Lay seeks to broaden people’s views on domestic violence – and to reach out to one group specifically.

“Men, I want you to consider why blokes are so quiet on these issues.”

The speaker calls for action, asking men to stand up against violence and discrimination. Placing family violence in a wider culture where vulgar and violent attitudes to women are common, he wants to see a change in attitude, making all indecency against women deeply shameful among men.

“I want you to consider what twisted sense of entitlement compels a man to grab a woman in a bar or call her a slut.”

Many activists around the world are trying to involve men and the larger community in something widely seen as a “women’s issue. The anti-sexist activist Jackson Katz, whose TED talk on violence against women went viral, emphasises the importance of collective change.

“The perpetrators aren’t monsters who crawl out of the swamp and come into town to perform their nasty deeds and then retreat into the darkness.” The violence is created in our society. Katz demands change, asking powerful men to set an example in building a violence-free community. Why?

“So that future generations won’t have the level of tragedy that we deal with on a daily basis.”

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Calling all artists for the ‘We Can!’ Arts Festival!

This December, arts meets activism at the ‘We Can! Weekend’.

The We Can End All Violence Against Women campaign (Singapore) is organising ‘We Can! Weekend’, a unique festival bringing together arts, performance, and community-based events to raise awareness about gender-based violence.

With the theme ‘the Silence of Violence’, the festival will explore the less visible forms of gender violence and its impact on individuals and communities. We want to use the powerful mediums of art and performance to educate and engage the public on the issue of gender violence, and draw attention to subtler forms of violence.

We invite proposals from individuals, organisations, or groups who are excited by the power of collective action in shaping the discourse on violence against women in Singapore. If you are an artist passionate about gender issues and spreading awareness and action for a violence-free society, come forward and take part in the We Can! Weekend!

Dates: 6 – 8 December
Venue: Aliwal Arts Centre
Theme: The Silence of Violence
Target outreach: 1000 attendees
Deadline for proposals: 27 September

Click here to view more details about the festival, and the requirements for artists’ proposals.

You can send proposals to [email protected] by 27 September. We will get back to you by 30 September.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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Rape culture is our problem too

[two_third] In an article in The Kent Ridge Common, Sakunika Wewalaarachchi looks at the fixation that the world, including Singapore, had on the gang rape of Jyoti Singh in Delhi in 2012. Part of this fixation was the tendency to characterise rape and misogyny as endemic to the Indian culture.

Protest against rape

In fact, women around the world only stand to suffer more when rape culture and misogyny are perceived as the product of conditions specific to a country – low levels of education, poverty, lack of economic development or modernisation, “backwardness” – and not as problems in themselves. Rape culture is not the inevitable result of these social conditions. Conversely, it is not true that having better social conditions means rape culture naturally dies out. This is a dangerous notion to have, because it breeds complacency and retards the progression of gender equality.

Rape culture does not arise from income and education levels, but from attitudes and beliefs that privilege male gratification at the expense of the freedom and security of women. Such attitudes and beliefs can be found anywhere and in every country, in a shack in a shanty town, as on the top floor of a glittery skyscraper. While rightly feeling outrage at incidences of rape that occur anywhere in the world, we must remember to look towards home, and not ignore the hornets’ nest in our own backyard. [/two_third]

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Violence against women: bruises of a global shame exposed

 

violence is not our cultureThe first international study of the prevalence of physical and sexual assaults shows a third of women worldwide have suffered beatings or worse in their daily lives.

According to The National, Dr Margaret Chan, director general of the WHO, said the findings needed to be taken seriously and they sent “a powerful message that violence against women is a global health problem of epidemic proportions”.

It is the first time estimates have been released based on population data from such a wide spectrum of countries.

And even countries that did not supply data for the study needed to eliminate their tolerance for abuse of women and improve their methods of tackling it, the report says.

“The findings send a powerful message that violence against women is not a small problem that only occurs in some pockets of society, but is a global public health problem of epidemic proportions, requiring urgent action,” it states.

protest

Violence takes it toll in many ways, the report shows. Women who experienced what it calls “intimate-partner violence” have higher rates of depression, HIV, injury and death, and are more likely to have babies with low birth weights than those who are free of violence.

 

This article has been edited on 5 July 2017.