Women, girls facing online abuse to get help from support centre set up by newly launched non-profit body

SINGAPORE — A non-profit body to empower Singapore women and girls was launched on Tuesday (Sept 13), with the unveiling of its first project aimed at tackling gender-based online harm, such as the leaking of lewd images and cyber-bullying.

Backed by S$1 million in funds raised so far, SG Her Empowerment (SHE) is setting up a support centre for victims of this sort of harm, offering a hotline with two counsellors and lawyers providing pro bono services to those in need.

In a statement on Tuesday, SHE said that it will also work towards taking on "broader mainstream issues such as workplace fairness and equality, the roles of women and men in the home, and issues affecting youth".

The support centre, set to be up and running by the end of the year, will:

• Offer the victims support and advice
• Legal guidance
• Assist in making police reports if need be

The centre, called SheCares@SCWO, is to operate from the premises of the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO) on Waterloo Street.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, SHE said that the centre's staff members will be trained with a guidebook that focuses on trauma-informed training to prevent victims from having to recount their trauma as they receive help.

The counsellors will guide victims through every step of the process, exploring their options, as well as offering legal assistance should the need arise.

The support centre will be working with the Singapore Police Force to improve the reporting process with victims, as well as social media platforms such as Meta, owner of Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, to streamline the reporting process for victims.

It will also collaborate with social media platforms to monitor and anticipate how to protect people from harm, as the online landscape continues to evolve.

When asked how they would handle victims of online harm who wish to stay anonymous, SHE founder and chairperson Stefanie Yuen Thio said that pro-bono lawyers at the support centre will provide advice for victims. The organisation might act as a verifier of victim information as well, she said. 

“Our constant contact with platforms will also help to inform our counsellors and pro-bono lawyers,” Ms Yuen Thio said, adding they would be able to streamline the exact information victims need to give in order to remove sensitive or lewd content online.

Ms Yuen Thio is managing director of TSMP Law Corporation.

At the launch, she added that SHE was created  to “change mindsets” and tackle broader mainstream issues faced by women in society that have yet to be addressed.

"While we originally conceptualised SHE as an organisation to run the victims' support centre, it soon became clear that there are many issues facing women that need urgent attention." 

SHE continues the work started by the Sunlight Alliance for Action (Sunlight AfA), to tackle online harm against women and girls. It was also inspired by the issues brought up in the Womens’ White Paper, published earlier this year.

Speaking about the paper, Ms Yuen Thio said: “These are good suggestions down the right path, but are there better ways to implement? Have all these policies been completely thought through from every perspective?’

A special adviser to SHE is Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for National Development, who also co-chaired Sunlight AfA.

"I am extremely heartened by the strong support from so many well-wishers who share our goal of making the internet a safer place for our women and our girls," Ms Sim said at the launch. She is also Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

Ms Yuen Thio has also said that they will be looking out for projects that align with government missions to seek available grants.

SHE hopes to engage both public and private sectors in their collaborations.

As of launch, SHE aims to offer guidance to victims as well as educate individuals, younger people especially, to protect them from online harm. 

Trauma experienced at a young age can carry on to later parts of life, which is why they will be focusing on educating younger people, Ms Yuen Thio said.

At the same time, SHE expects to launch dialogues as well as polls and surveys to gather more feedback from different age groups and sectors of life about relevant issues that need to be addressed.

This means that conversations will not just include women but men as well to ensure that all bases are covered.