AWARE urges more gov’t commitment to gender equality

The Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) is concerned about the Singapore government's level of commitment to gender equality.

This comes after a United Nations (UN) committee on women's rights highlighted areas of improvement in a report -- dated 27 July -- about gender equality in Singapore.

In a statement to the press on Thursday, AWARE said it hopes the government can do its best to meet its obligations on some of the key areas mentioned in the report.

One area highlighted in the report by the UN Convention On the Elimination Of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women(CEDAW) committee was the persistence of domestic and sexual violence against women here -- which it says remains under-reported.

Other aspects that needed improvement are the implementation of national mechanisms such as a Human Rights institution or anti-discrimination law; and incorporating a definition of discrimination into the legislation.

The committee also wanted paid maternity leave here to apply to all women employees regardless of nationality and marital status.

AWARE also expressed concerned with the discrimination of marginalised women in Singapore -- namely the sexual minority, the "foreign wife" and "foreign domestic workers" and women with disabilities in the absence of a clear anti-discrimination mechanism.

The report from the UN CEDAW committee was in response to Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) Halimah Yacob's presentation on the state of gender equality in Singapore at the UN headquarters in New York two weeks ago.

AWARE had also made its own recommendations that were presented to the UN to improve women's rights in Singapore. This was its third time submitting such a report.

Madam Halimah had told the committee that gender equality was important to Singapore's economic growth.

She said that Singapore had risen to 10th out of 138 countries on the UN Gender Inequality Index, with women's literacy rising to 93.8 per cent and women's participation in the workforce increasing to 56.5 per cent last year, from below 30 per cent in the 1970s.

In her presentation, she also mentioned that gender stereotypes were disappearing -- though that was "a work in progress."

Noting that the Singapore government appeared to be more receptive and open to the CeEDAW committee, AWARE still felt that it was being non-committal, especially in areas that were highlighted in CEDAW's report.

A spokesperson from AWARE said: "We remain concerned about the State's reticence on its obligations to institutionalise CEDAW across the board including in Parliament, the judiciary and law enforcement agencies, schools and the media."

Requesting the relevant Ministries, especially MCYS, to include civil society actors in public policy consultation, AWARE added, "We also urge the government to set aside a dedicated budget for mainstreaming CEDAW through committed public education, improved data collection and temporary special measures."