AWARE’s work – and the work of gender equality advocates everywhere – don’t just end at our own communities or borders. One such instance where we caused ripples of change was last year, when Chinese journalist Sophia Huang Xueqin, visited Singapore to attend a course and bravely spoke out about her experience of being sexually harassed by a senior journalist for the first time. She was subsequently referred to AWARE.

From there, Sophia went on to learn more about AWARE’s long and ongoing advocacy journey in raising awareness about sexual harassment and assault. We shared with her our findings from our years of running the Sexual Assault Care Centre (SACC), Singapore’s only specialist centre for survivors of sexual violence, and past research reports, emboldening her with knowledge and tools to continue the fight against sexual harassment.

The global #MeToo movement and meeting with the AWARE team inspired Sophia to go back to China to conduct her own survey on workplace sexual harassment. 416 female journalists, mostly aged 18-34, responded: more than 80% of the respondents reported that they experienced sexual harassment by a manager or colleague, while around 40% of the reported abuse was inflicted by the respondents’ bosses and superiors, clearly showing the element of power and control in workplace harassment.

We’re so glad to have contributed in our own small ways to Sophia’s amazing work in China, and remain inspired by her bravery and drive to not only speak out about the problem of workplace harassment, but to also successfully encourage others to do the same. Keep fighting the good fight, Sophia!  

You can read Sophia’s research findings here.