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SINGAPORE: Starting next month, a series of engagements will take place between the public and private sectors, as well as non-governmental organizations, with the aim of identifying and addressing issues related to women in Singapore.
These will culminate in a White Paper that will be presented to the Government in the first half of next year, which will consolidate the comments and recommendations during the sessions, which will be called “Conversations on the development of women.”
The initiative will be headed by the Ministry of Social and Family Development and will have the support of the Ministries of the Interior, Culture, Community and Youth.
Groups such as the Singapore Council of Women’s Organizations, the Women’s Committee of the National Trade Union Congress, the People’s Association Women’s Integration Network and others will lead the engagements, said Minister of Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam.
A “MORE PHILOSOPHICAL” APPROACH
Mr. Shanmugam announced the initiative at the first engagement of its kind on Sunday (September 20), a virtual dialogue session in which more than 100 participants from youth and women’s organizations participated.
She noted that much progress had been made regarding the position of women in Singaporean society over the years, noting that women had become better represented in politics and in senior management positions in the private sector. .
However, despite these advances, cultural, social and structural obstacles remain for women, she said.
The issue of gender equality had to go beyond such performance matrices to become something “deeply etched in our collective consciousness,” added Mr. Shanmugam.
READ: Women in Singapore earn 6% less than men for similar work: MOM study
When internalized, such a profound mindset shift would allow sexual violence and differential treatment in the workplace based on gender to be seen as “a profound violation of core values.”
“Equality needs to be not just formal, but substantive, and it should take into account the unique challenges (and) needs that women face, and the specific effects that policies have on them, to really level the playing field,” she said. .
Shanmugam quoted the late US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whom she described as a “true titan in the fight for women’s rights,” as saying: “Women belong to all places where decisions are made. . It shouldn’t be that women are the exception. “
Shanmugam pointed to the spate of voyeurism cases here that made headlines here in recent years, as well as the specific case of National University of Singapore dental student Yin Zi Qin, who in July received community-based sentences. , which would allow him to have no criminal record upon completion, after being convicted of suffocating his ex-girlfriend.
Debates over what kind of sanctions those offenders should face and whether the “bright future” of college students who commit such crimes should count towards mitigation if Mr. Shanmugam considers what kind of framework to use when considering such cases.
While introducing harsher penalties for such crimes was “relatively easier”, the speaker saw the need for a “more philosophical” approach, to view such issues from the perspective of gender equality and respect as a core value. .
READ: Comment: How do we raise kids who will never hit women?
CHALLENGING MENTALITIES
The Minister of State for Social and Family Development, Sun Xueling, the Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth, Low Yen Ling, and the Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Rahayu Mahzam, will lead the review of women’s issues.
Ms Sun said she hoped society would challenge her mindset on the issues women struggle with, such as care and inequality in the workplace.
“Women in Singapore have made significant progress over the years, but more can be done to examine the issues that affect women in the home, school, workplace and community. When we say that women have options, are they real options? Are they able to develop their potential, be the best they can be, in a way free of obstacles that does not require them to settle for second best? ” she said.
The review will look at what else can be done to achieve greater gender equality, as well as the place of women in the home, as well as in schools and workplaces, and in the community.
At home, the review will look at what can be done to protect women from family violence and intimate partner violence, as well as recognize the comprehensive roles that women play in the home as wives, mothers, caregivers, and homemakers. .
READ: Interagency Task Force Established to Address Family Violence Amid Increasingly Violent Cases: Sun Xueling
Meanwhile, in schools and workplaces, the review will seek to promote equal opportunities for women, as well as what can be done to protect them from sexual harassment, assault and discrimination in the workplace.
The review will also seek to roll back gender stereotypes in the wider community.
A JOB IN PROGRESS
Shanmugam said that while women enjoy equal opportunity in many areas of the economy, there are other areas where such equality remains a work in progress.
For example, when the Board Diversity Council was formed in 2014, created to address the underrepresentation of women in board seats, the percentage of women on the boards of the top 100 companies on the Singapore Stock Exchange was 7.5%.
This improved slightly to 16.2 percent in 2019, he noted.
“Again, work in progress,” he said.
Part of the problem is structural, pointing out that working women often have to choose between work and family, a difficult position men rarely have to face, Shanmugam said.
This is something the government has tried to address by promoting more flexible work arrangements, he said, as well as encouraging a greater distribution of parental responsibilities by allowing parents to take up to eight weeks of leave to care for their children in their first year.
READ: Singapore will see a record number of women entering Parliament after GE2020
Collective efforts over the years have led to great progress, Shanmugam said, noting Singapore’s 11th place out of 162 countries in the United Nations Human Development Report last year, as well as its first shared spot with Italy. in terms of companies with women as executive heads.
“I think we have done quite well. But the indices only provide part of the picture. What also matters is the reality experienced by women in Singapore,” she said.
“When you examine that, I think there is still more that can be done. The next leap of change can only come from a mindset shift that I spoke about.
“A society that does not recognize the equal position of women is a society that can never reach its potential. Especially in Singapore, where people are our only asset.”
