SHE at CEDAW 2024
SHE took part in the 2060th Meeting, 88th Session, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), held in Geneva, Switzerland on 13 May 2024.
CEDAW is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The CEDAW Committee consists of 23 experts on women's rights from around the world.
The CEDAW treaty is a tool that helps women around the world to bring about change in their daily life. In countries that have ratified the treaty, CEDAW has proved invaluable in opposing the effects of discrimination, which include violence, poverty, and lack of legal protections, along with the denial of inheritance, property rights, and access to credit.
SHE was part of the delegation of 12 Singaporean women's organisations—the largest contingent since CEDAW began.
SHE Chair Stefanie Yuen Thio delivered SHE's report.
Here is the full text of Stefanie's speech:
STATEMENT BY Stefanie Yuen Thio, Founding Chairperson of SG Her Empowerment (SHE)
1. I highlight the issue of gender-based violence, especially in the virtual world.
2. Online harms are increasingly prevalent and something women across all demographics face. While they can affect both men and women, a majority of such attacks are against women.
3. The explosive rise and adoption of generative AI, used to create deepfake pornographic content, will make the online world even less safe.
4. Singapore has made good progress in levelling the playing field for women in the physical world, but attacks in the online space is an emerging danger that needs to be addressed urgently.
5. Gender-based violence covers mental, emotional and sexual abuse. Harms such as cyberbullying, image-based sexual abuse (IBSA), and cyberstalking can also amount to violence.
6. Such harms negatively impact women’s mental health, wellbeing and safety which in turn affects gender equality.
7. Online harms do not just affect the direct victims. Online attitudes will spill over into mindsets about gender norms. SHE’s research suggests that negative gender bias is developing online. Acceptance of online harms is also becoming more normalised which has harmful real life effects as people accustomed to seeing online abuse could accept this more readily in the physical world.
8. Technology-facilitated gender-based violence can occur with physical harm. One-third of the cases seen at SHE’s support centre involved both online and physical harms.
9. While the Government has taken active steps to regulate online harms, SHE recommends introducing an independent e-safety commission, which will have regulatory powers for rapid harmful content removal, institute policies and legislation, and provide education and training to enhance digital skills.
10. On behalf of UWS, I would like to state that UWS recognises the importance of changing mindsets to break the cycle of violence against women. Their research indicates that this change in mindsets starts at home to build healthy masculinity ideals and not perpetuate gender-based violence.
Thank you.
Here is footage of the reports from the entire Singapore contingent:
Order of Speakers:
- Singapore Council of Women's Organisation (SCWO) - Junie Foo
- SG Her Empowerment (SHE) - Stefanie Yuen Thio
- Beyond The Hijab/Musawwah -Saza Faradilla
- End Female Genital Cutting (End FGC) - Rabby'a Hanna
- Singapore Muslim Women's Association (PPIS) - Hazlina Abdul Halim
- Humantarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) - Jaya Anil Kumar
- SAYONI - Anne Goh
- Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) - Corinna Lim