Written by Mithalina Taib, AWARE intern

On Saturday, 24 April 2021, 77 members attended AWARE’s 36th Annual General Meeting over Zoom. They then stayed on for AWARE’s first-ever Virtual Town Hall, to hear about the plans for 2021 and share suggestions for the organisation’s work. 

In her opening remarks, AWARE President Margaret (Margie) Thomas noted that 2020 was a landmark year for many reasons. While the COVID-19 pandemic affected the organisation in many ways, 2020 actually turned out to be AWARE’s most successful year ever in terms of fundraising.

Another landmark announcement that took place in 2020 (while AWARE celebrated its 35th birthday) was Law and Home Affairs Minister Shanmugam’s declaration that gender equality should be embraced as a fundamental value in Singapore. AWARE has therefore been eagerly awaiting the announced White Paper on gender equality that the government will produce later this year. In the meantime, AWARE’s Advocacy and Research team is working hard on its own set of recommendations on gender equality, which we will submit before the White Paper’s release.

Various staff members at the AGM spoke about their departments’ key achievements during 2020, the full details of which are in the Annual Report 2020.

Liyana Dhamirah, Senior Programme Executive at the Women’s Care Centre (WCC), reported an increase in both calls and clients as the pandemic progressed in 2020 – a result of the global economic slowdown, rising unemployment and social isolation that took place.

WCC supported more than 4,900 women via their first response and direct service channels. The department also conducted its first-ever online recruitment and training, for 16 new Helpline volunteers. 

The Women’s Helpline managed to cope with a whopping 40% increase in calls, with 78% of callers reporting that they felt emotionally supported and better able to understand their options. Most notably, 2020 was the first year that WCC partnered with a Syariah law firm to provide improved access to Syariah legal support for women in need. 

Ashley Chua, Assistant Manager at the Sexual Assault Care Centre, said that 2020 saw SACC’s caseload topping 1,000 cases for the first time ever. Though the pandemic greatly limited their resources and capacity, the SACC team was ultimately able to handle this increase. The department was also proud of its continued collaboration with the Law Society and successful online training of more than 300+ defense lawyers.

Ashley reported that the department’s two-year campaign, Aim For Zero (AFZ), had concluded at the close of 2020. During its run, AFZ posts had a total social media reach of nearly 2 million.

A key element of AFZ was the Sexual Assault First Responder Training (SAFRT,) which went online in 2020 and trained 400 participants. As it has a waitlist of some 200, SAFRT will continue to take place in 2021.

Filzah Sumartono, Projects Manager of AWARE’s Advocacy, Research and Communications department, pointed to the significant advocacy and research successes made by the team in eldercare, migrant spouses, domestic workers and sex education. 

Two major reports were published, one about migrant wives and the other migrant domestic workers providing eldercare (the first local study on this issue). Throughout the circuit breaker period, the department also conducted a series of surveys involving women from marginalised communities (in partnership with HOME and Singapore Alliance for Women in Ageing) to study how the pandemic affected these communities. In 2021, ARC decided to restructure its work around the national Gender Equality Review, recognising that it is a significant opportunity for AWARE to influence the national agenda on women’s rights.

Caroline Callow, Senior OD Facilitator at Catalyse, said the team had designed and delivered 59 online workshops in a single year. They successfully reached around 4,000 employees, via online workshops or new workplace policies they helped to develop. 

In 2020, three new workshops were introduced, including “Workplace Response to Family Domestic Violence”, which made its debut as a response to the spike in family domestic violence cases during COVID-19.  

Renee Tan, Head of Development and Partnerships, reported on behalf of the Secretariat department that AWARE raised $2.9 million in 2020, the largest amount in its history. The team is heartened by the increase in individual donations as a result of its most successful online fundraising campaign, the Vulnerable Women’s Fund. The AWAREHouse Party, our first virtual event with pre-recorded and live elements, also raised over $500,000.  

At the Virtual Town Hall that followed the AGM, issues raised by members included how AWARE can continue its support for marginalised communities, such as single parents, transgender women and non-binary people.

Wrapping up the Virtual AGM and Town Hall, Margie expressed her special thanks to the staff of AWARE, noting that as a founder member, it was amazing to see how far AWARE has come in 35 years. She assured members that AWARE will continue to work towards an inclusive and equal society for years to come.