This post was originally published as a press release on 24 August 2018.

At its Revolution Ball on Saturday evening, gender equality group AWARE launched the #MeToo Action Fund to support its upcoming campaign to end sexual assault, harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace.

Donors and sponsors of the fundraising ball, which was held at Shangri-la Hotel, raised money in response to the global #MeToo movement against sexual violence, which blew up online a year ago.

“This year’s Ball was the “revolution” we needed – a revolution in attitudes and behaviours, and a journey towards real, lasting change,” said Corinna Lim, Executive Director of AWARE. “Because of #MeToo, we saw more nuanced media coverage and public conversations on sexual violence and gender discrimination, particularly in the workplace. Survivors in Singapore bravely shared their experiences as part of the movement, too. Most significantly, we saw a big jump in the number of calls – about 79% increase in the last quarter of 2017 – to our Sexual Assault Care Centre (SACC), further proving that with social support and knowledge of helpful resources, survivors are more willing to speak up and seek help.”

The gala event was hosted by stage actors Pam Oei and Andrew Marko, and welcomed some 500 guests, who donated generously to support the Action Fund. Major funders for the Ball include KAH Motor, KOP Limited and Tan Ean Kiam Foundation.

Initiatives supported by the #MeToo Action Fund are set to kick off in the last quarter of 2018. AWARE unveiled its plans to expand the outreach and capacity of SACC; work with employers and institutions to ensure accountability for workplace harassment; conduct research to improve systems of support for survivors; and extend its public education tools on sexual violence, consent and gender inequality to more workplaces, schools and communities.

To support its campaign, AWARE will be releasing a video series wherein ten survivors of sexual assault and harassment boldly share their own experiences of sexual violence in Singapore. The first video was screened at the Revolution Ball on Saturday. The videos will be used to support various public education efforts, including to train employers and professionals to sensitively manage sexual harassment in the workplace and enact workplace policies to support those who have encountered harassment.

“The stories we hear from the survivors who spoke out in the video – and those who come to SACC to seek help every day – debunks the common myth that the #MeToo movement does not apply to Singapore. Sexual violence is a reality here, too. Our new campaign will send a strong and clear message that we believe survivors, stand behind them and are working systemically to improve support for them. With the funds raised, we will ensure that #MeToo is more than just a hashtag. It will be a turning point in strengthening the fight for gender equality, and to end sexual assault and workplace harassment,” said Ms. Lim.

The Ball raised its money from 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 throughout the fundraising campaign will also go towards AWARE’s public education programmes, and research and advocacy efforts for more supportive policies for all women.

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. This year’s award winners were presented with their respective awards at the Revolution Ball.  

AWARE awarded the Champion for Gender Equality and Justice award to Jean Chong, an LBT advocate and founder of LBT women’s rights group Sayoni. Stella Jayanthi, a community worker from Beyond Social Services, won the Champion for Women’s Empowerment award, together with Babes Pregnancy Crisis Support, a pro-choice organisation that works to empower and support pregnant teenagers to make an informed decision about her pregnancy. A special recognition award was given this year to Singapore Institute of Directors (SID) for their commitment to promoting women in corporate leadership.

Said Imran Taib, who was part of this year’s judging panel for the Awards, “As a first-time judge of the AWARE Awards, I was very moved by the amazing work that every individual and organisation in our pool of nominees has done to strive for gender equality. They’ve made great strides not only to support women’s choices and lives, but to also empower women economically and boost diverse women’s voices in civil society. The judges and I had a tough decision to make, and we are proud to celebrate our winners’ successes and achievements.” Imran was one of the winners of last year’s AWARE Awards for his work in WALI (Women and Law in Islam).  

Annex – AWARE Award winners 2018

Champion for Women’s Empowerment

Stella Jayanthi

A Community Worker with Beyond Social Services, Stella has been a passionate advocate for low-income women for the past 13 years, supporting them through addiction, domestic violence, single parenthood, homelessness, incarceration, and separation from their children. Stella has piloted multiple innovative income-generating projects for these women, particularly through baking, catering and sewing. By setting up cooperatives such as Café Beyond and Bakers’ Beyond, Stella has journeyed with these women through the very challenging path of becoming micro-entrepreneurs, created opportunities for skills-upgrading, networking, and branding, and advocated for them to earn fair wages. She sees these projects as ways to give disempowered women positive experiences of earning an income, and to develop their confidence in a safe and supportive space. A single mother of three, Stella draws on her own experiences to encourage women to rediscover their value to their families and communities.

Champion for Women’s Empowerment

Babes Pregnancy Crisis Support

Babes is a pro-choice organisation that believes in empowering every pregnant teenager to make an informed decision about her pregnancy. Since 2005, Babes has assisted more than 550 girls in pregnancy crises through their 24-hour helpline, casework, counselling and befriending services. Placing the wellbeing of their clients as central to their work, Babes not only prioritises the client’s agency in making her decision, but also ensures that she is connected to the necessary information, resources and support services throughout and beyond her pregnancy. Babes ensures the long-term wellbeing of its clients by organising skills-based workshops for them, connecting them to education and employment opportunities, and fostering a sense of community between clients, partners and volunteers. Babes does important work in reaching out to the public to raise awareness about its services, encouraging more conversation on the issue of teenage pregnancy and promoting greater acceptance of teenage mothers in our society.

Champion for Gender Equality and Justice

Jean Chong

An LBT advocate for the past 17 years and the co-founder of Sayoni, an LBT women’s rights group, Jean has been working tirelessly to develop the Human Rights Documentation on the discrimination and violence against LBT women for the past six years, a document that will serve as an instrumental evidence-based advocacy tool. During the 5th review of Singapore at the UN Convention for Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 2017, Jean led a team of representatives from Sayoni to Geneva to personally lobby the CEDAW Committee. As a result, specific recommendations addressing the discrimination against LBT women were included as part of the Concluding Observations from the Committee. Jean plays a key role in bringing activists and organisations together for collective action within and beyond Singapore. She believes in making advocacy accessible to all and a lot of her work has been focused on equipping communities with the language and tools to advocate for themselves. Jean registered Brave Spaces in 2017, the first-ever full-time hotline for marginalised women in Singapore which takes an intersectional, feminist and collaborative approach in nurturing and empowering all women.

Special Recognition – Commitment to Promoting Women in Corporate Leadership

Singapore Institute of Directors (SID)

Since 2014, SID has adopted a deliberate and proactive approach to raising awareness on the issue of underrepresentation of women directors on company boards through its events, publications and research studies. Through its events and initiatives, SID provides women directors with platforms to access networks of chairpersons and other directors. SID has its own Board Appointment and Diversity Subcommittee that works closely with the national Diversity Action Committee (DAC) and BoardAgender to encourage more companies to consider women directors for their board posts. In 2015, SID members teamed up with the DAC to develop the Diversity Pledge, which resulted in more than 200 companies publicly committing to take steps to improve diversity. SID has also been playing a crucial role in establishing gender diversity as an essential marker of good corporate governance by including diversity as an explicit criterion in the Singapore Corporate Awards. With these educational and advocacy efforts, SID hopes to move closer to the 20 by 2020 target of women board membership in the next couple of years.