THE POWER OF Solidarity

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY APPROACHES THIS MARCH 8, WE HIGHLIGHT AND CELEBRATE SIX ORGANISATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE WORKING TOWARD A SOCIETY THAT EMBRACES GENDER EQUITY

-  JAMIE LEE

Growing up, I was told that I was lucky to be a woman living in Singapore. Not only it is one of the safest countries to live in, there are equal opportunities for both men and women when it comes to education and career progression. That may be true, but Singapore, like many other countries, still suffers from issues that plague women, such as sexual assault, revenge porn and outrage of modesty. According to statistics by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), in 2019, a total of 1,590 females compared to 173 males suffered from an outrage of modesty. In 2021, only 64.2 percent of women are in the workforce, compared to men at 77.23 percent.

But those figures are just part of the picture. There are plenty of other more subtle and nuanced situations that show that things are still far from ideal for women today. Like men giving women creepy looks on public transport, men who believe women “should stay in the kitchen”, men who say things like, “If you want gender equality so badly, then you should serve National Service,” or, “She probably deserved to be assaulted because of what she wore.”

This year, the theme for International Women’s Day 2023 is gender equity. The word “equity” may sound similar to “equality” but their meanings are different. “Equity” is about receiving opportunities proportionate to your circumstances while “equality” is about allocating the exact same opportunities even though your circumstances might be different.