This post was originally published as a press release on 8 September 2017.
Photos from the event 

Gender equality group AWARE celebrated 25 years of its Women’s Helpline – Singapore’s only crisis helpline for women – at its annual fundraising gala, the Love Ball, on Friday evening at St. Regis Singapore.

The gala event was hosted by stage actors Pam Oei and Siti Khalijah, and welcomed some 400 guests, who donated generously to support AWARE’s programmes and services, including its critical support services for women: the Women’s Helpline, counselling, befrienders, support group and legal clinic services.

AWARE also unveiled immediate plans to build capacity to support and empower minority communities in Singapore, with support services to be run in all four major languages. Previously, the services were run only in English and Mandarin.

This year’s aim was to raise $350,000 from the donation pledges, silent auction and lucky dip, as well as the net proceeds from the sale of tables at the gala dinner. The money raised will also go towards AWARE’s public education programmes, and research and advocacy efforts for more supportive policies for all women.

“Our donors and supporters top themselves every year at the Ball. The fundraising gala has made a name for itself as an unmissable opportunity to transform women’s lives and contribute in a big way to the women’s movement in Singapore,” said Corinna Lim, Executive Director of AWARE.

She said: “We’ve been running the Women’s Helpline for 25 years and have supported over 25,000 callers since we started. Throughout the years, it’s become clear we need to ensure that every woman can access and feels welcomed in our support network. The money raised tonight will allow us to develop our staff, volunteers, counsellors and lawyers’ capabilities to run services in Malay, Tamil and Mandarin, as well as in English. We are also developing our team’s knowledge of Syariah law in order to better support Muslim women. No woman should be turned away from the help they need.”

At the Ball, AWARE also announced a new initiative, the POWER Fund: Women’s Fund for Change, to provide seed funding and other resources to emerging women’s rights groups. The first batch of grantees will be announced in November 2017.

Recognising champions of gender equality and women’s empowerment

Every year since 2011, the AWARE Awards have proudly celebrated individuals and organisations that promote gender equality in Singapore. The award winners were presented with their respective awards at the Love Ball.  Previous years’ winners include The T Project, Singapore’s only shelter for transgender women; Aidha, an NGO that runs programmes to financially empower foreign domestic workers; and Sarah Tan, a business owner who employs single mothers at her bao stalls and uses her home to shelter vulnerable women and girls.

This year, AWARE awarded the Champions for Gender Equality and Justice awards to Women and Law in Islam, a group that promotes gender equality in Islam through conversation, debate and public awareness; and Eden Law Corporation, a law firm that has aided many vulnerable women – including divorcees, survivors of domestic violence and single mothers – through their low-bono business model.  

Crisis shelter, Casa Raudha Women Home, bagged the Safe Haven award, for their shelter which has, since 2008, housed and supported 760 women escaping abusive relationships, family violence and homelessness.

Finally, the Champions for Women’s Economic Empowerment award was given to Ieshah Abdul Majid and her daughter, Nur Shazlina Sulaiman, who provide stable employment to lower-income women and single mothers through Ieshah’s hawker stalls.

“Every year, the competition for the AWARE Awards gets tougher,” said Awards judge Professor Tommy Koh, who is the Ambassador-at-large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Professor Koh has been on the judging panel of the AWARE Awards since 2011.

“We are honoured to witness more work being done for gender equality. From individuals using their entrepreneurship skills to support underprivileged women, to bigger organisations providing crucial services, we know that no effort is too small. We hope the Awards encourage more initiatives that improve the landscape for all women. As always, we are proud to recognise our winners’ achievements.”

2017’s Alamak! Award winner

But as AWARE works hard to foster gender equality, many obstacles still get in the way. To recognise this, the tongue-in-cheek Alamak! Award was created to “honour” people and institutions who have contributed to the most jaw-dropping sexist moment of the year.

Nominees for the Alamak! Award were submitted by the public and shortlisted by AWARE. The “winner” was chosen through online voting on AWARE’s website.

The nominees this year were last year’s victim-blaming “Dear Kelly” column response in Teenage magazine; a recent court judgment that perpetuated myths about sexual assault; a sexist movie review by retailer Absolute Comics; ROM and HDB for annulling a couple’s marriage and taking away their right to a home; and vocal online shamers of public breastfeeding.  

It was a close fight, but with 144 of 467 votes, the Alamak! nominee with the most votes is the victim-blaming court judgment.

In April, a man was acquitted of sexually assaulting a 15 year old girl. Despite the victim’s young age and the fact that the accused was the live-in boyfriend of her mother, the court, in acquitting the accused, found that the victim was not  “prompt in her complaints” and that “there were no reasons for her not to confide in members of her family or her boyfriend. …Someone so abused and humiliated would be expected to seek help and redress when she breaks her silence.”

Said Jolene Tan, AWARE’s Head of Advocacy and Research, of the court judgment: “It is well-established that survivors are often reluctant to report and seek help for sexual crimes, which are vastly stigmatised. Authorities should be looking to bust myths about sexual crimes, instead of reinforcing them in court.”

Read more about the AWARE Award winners and Alamak! Award nominees in the Annexes attached.

Annex A
AWARE Award Winners 2017

Champions for Gender Equality & Justice
Women and Law in Islam

Women and Law in Islam (WALI), led by lawyer Halijah Mohamed and interfaith activist Imran Taib, was formed to provide alternatives to Singapore’s “rigid and conservative interpretation of Islam” through conversation, debate and public awareness. WALI has allowed a growing community of Muslim women and men to speak out against gender inequality by providing much-needed space for honest debate of Muslim texts and interpretations. WALI’s work is especially admirable considering the environment that makes it difficult for them to flourish. They have also worked with other women’s groups and academics on CEDAW submissions and a submission paper with 20 other signatories for the Family Justice Act in 2015.

Champions for Gender Equality & Justice
Eden Law Corporation

Established in August 2014 and led by Managing Director, June Lim, Eden Law Corporation provides high quality legal services at a Low Bono rate, using a sliding scale fixed fee model on clients’ disposable income. In 2016, 60% of their work was done at a Pro Bono or Low Bono rate. They are powerfully positioned to aid the many vulnerable women they have counted among their clients, including divorcees, survivors of domestic violence and single mothers. The only law firm of this nature in Singapore, Eden Law’s impact on Singapore has the potential to grow beyond its already impressive contributions. Eden Law hopes to encourage other lawyers to offer affordable legal services to women and vulnerable communities.

Champions for Women’s Economic Empowerment
Ieshah Abdul Majid and Nur Shazlina Sulaiman

Eleven years ago,  Ieshah, a single mother, was struggling to make ends meet, until a friend entrusted her  with the management of Cafe Cocoa. Today,  Ieshah is the one making a difference in the lives of fellow single mothers, having employed 10 single and low-income mothers over the last ten years through her three hawker stalls. Her compassion and entrepreneurship inspired her daughter, Shaz, who runs a cafe at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, which creates opportunities and provides accessibility for the deaf community. This inspiring mother-daughter team is the perfect example of how compassion from one person can start a chain of events that helps countless others.

Safe Haven
Casa Raudha Women Home

Casa Raudha Women Home, one of the four crisis shelters for women in Singapore, has provided a safe shelter for women escaping abusive relationships, family violence and homelessness since 2008. Over the past nine years, they have housed 760 women and children. Most of these women come from low-income backgrounds with nowhere else to turn to for the support and stability they need. Their strong survivor-centric approach means that those under their care are able to regain control and autonomy of their lives and circumstances, something that many domestic violence survivors have had stolen from them, and independently make decisions that will positively impact not only themselves, but also their children, family and society.

Click here for Alamak! Award 2017 nominees