SHECARES@SCWO, Singapore’s first one-stop support centre for victims or survivors of online harms, is now open!Find out more
We Are
SHE
Empowering girls and women through community engagements and partnerships
Who We Are
SG Her Empowerment (“SHE”) is an independent non-profit organisation, with Institution of Public Character (“IPC”) status, that strives to empower girls and women through community engagements and partnerships.
We engage with the community
SHE engages with and listens to women and men across the community, and from all age groups and walks of life.
We are data-driven
SHE facilitates research and gathers data to clearly frame the issues and identify needs, in order to take an evidence-backed approach to shape impactful strategies.
We connect and collaborate
SHE collaborates with community stakeholders from different interest groups, civil society organisations, corporates, and the Government.
We advocate change
Through these efforts, SHE advocates positive change and champions a more equal society.
Leadership
Our Story
Inspired by the work of the Sunlight Alliance for Action to tackle online harms, especially those targeted at women and girls ("Sunlight AfA"), SHE was founded by lawyer Stefanie Yuen Thio when she saw the need for a community effort to tackle emerging new issues for women, including online harms. Her decision was rooted in the Sunlight AfA findings that online harms are an urgent issue, yet many victims do not know how to seek help and therefore do not report incidents of harm.
Stefanie, together with other members of the AfA who eventually became SHE’s founding team, decided to take on the task of combatting this growing scourge. The first key initiative was setting up of SHECARES@SCWO, a one-stop support centre for victims of online harms, focusing on girls and women.
Although SHE’s initial goal was to tackle online harms, it became clear that there were many other issues girls and women face requiring equal attention. For example, women are still severely under-represented in the C-suite and in other leadership positions in Singapore; they continue to bear the brunt of caregiving duties in the family; and they struggle to balance their school, work, and home-life commitments. The SHE team felt it had to help address these urgent challenges as well. As SHE begins its community engagement efforts to determine other areas of focus, the team also look at the findings from the 2022 White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development.
SHE’s mission is to work with the community, partner organisations, and government agencies to identify opportunities to empower girls, energise youth, and advocate positive change for the entire community.
What We Do
Engage
SHE engages and listens.
Real change begins with honest conversations. We facilitate ongoing candid dialogues to identify issues impacting the advancement of girls and women.
Because this is not just a women’s issue, we take an inclusive approach to achieving our goals, and will engage women and men across the community and from all age groups and walks of life.
SHECares@SCWO
One-stop support centre
Singapore’s first one-stop support centre for victims or survivors of online harms.
Discover your rights, seek help, and live without fear. We are here to help.
If you or anyone you know have been experiencing online harms, such as harassment, abusive language, revenge porn, cyberstalking, or doxxing – we are here to help. This is more common than you think, and you do not have to face the struggle alone.
SHECARES@SCWO is Singapore’s first one-stop support centre for victims or survivors of online harms, launched in collaboration with the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO). The centre provides holistic victim support and a safe space for victims and survivors, particularly girls and women, to turn to when they encounter online harms.
The centre will have a particular focus on girls and women because, while both men and women are affected by online harms, we believe that women are disproportionately targeted. This includes sexual harassment, stalking, and non-consensual intimate image sharing. Surveys have also shown that women feel less safe online and are less aware of the resources and assistance available to them.
SHECARES@SCWO provides the following services:
- Telephone helpline and textline: Call or WhatsApp us to speak to a trained counsellor, who will help you determine what to do next, and if it will be helpful to attend a counselling session or one of our legal clinics.
- Counselling: Counsellors trained in trauma-informed care will provide free counselling sessions for victims or survivors who have experienced harms on the internet. You are strongly encouraged to contact the centre to make an appointment.
- Pro bono legal assistance: Legal volunteers from Pro Bono SG will offer free legal assistance at legal clinics. You are strongly encouraged to contact the centre to make an appointment.
We want you to feel safe, so what you tell us will be kept confidential. Your personal data will be treated in accordance with the law. Please do understand that we may be legally required to make a police report if your case involves a criminal offence.
We are unfortunately unable to guarantee that there will be bilingual lawyers at all our counselling or legal clinic sessions. We encourage visitors to arrive with an English-speaking friend or family member who can translate for them.
If you are facing an emergency or are in danger, please call the Police at 999 or other 24-hour helplines for immediate help:
- National Anti-Violence and Sexual Harassment Helpline (NAVH)-
1800-777-0000 - Samaritans of Singapore (SOS)- 1-767
- Institute of Mental Health- 6389-2222
If you have any questions or would like to seek assistance, please reach out to us.
by appointment only
Monday – Friday, 9am-6pm*
by appointment only
Every 1st, 3rd, and 5th Wednesday of the month, 7pm-9pm*
Get Involved
SHE wants you!
We are looking to collaborate with:
Individuals
To share their views and be involved in our engagement sessions.
Corporates
To contribute to our efforts.
Community and knowledge partners
To work with us on joint programmes and initiatives.
Let's Connect!
contactus@she.org.sg
News And Resources
What's New
What have we been up to? Stay updated with our latest news!
Resources
Check out some interesting resources and publications.
Let's Connect
2021 Marriage and Parenthood Survey
DATA REVEALS ROOM FOR MINDSET CHANGE ON GENDER ROLES AT HOME
The Prime Minister’s Office yesterday released the findings of its 2021 Marriage and Parenthood Survey.
The data shows that there remains room for mindset change on gender roles within the home, and that the daily struggle of balancing work and family responsibilities remains a very real one.
Singaporean couples want to have more babies and 99% of the married respondents to this nation-wide survey feel that both parents have an equal part to play in raising their kids. 95% believe both parents should share the responsibilities of the home equally. This is a great start to achieving equality for women in the home.
However, the challenges of family-building continue to be stressors – from managing family and work demands, to the expense of raising children. 64% of married respondents cited financial costs as one of their top 3 reasons for not having (more) children. Single respondents expressed similar sentiments. Married respondents also overwhelmingly indicated that flexible work arrangements (“FWAs”) are an attractive option to balancing childcare and work; 92% were more likely to join an organisation with FWAs.
There also remains a disconnect between the sexes on gender roles. Married women still do more in the home than their spouses, and while a lot of men (72%) are comfortable with the division of household chores, only 59% of women are satisfied with this.
Clearly Singapore still has work to do. As a start, we need to shift mindsets. Both sexes believe that parenting and household work should be equally divided. However, women still think that they’re doing too much of the work, while many of their husbands do not see this.
Surveys like these help society to understand mindsets. This is a good first step towards understanding where we are as a society, and progressing towards a fairer and more equal society where families can thrive and women can flourish, both in the workplace and at home.
SHE believes in the importance of using data to drive mindset change. We will regularly launch such surveys to raise awareness of and overcome stereotypes that may be holding women back from achieving their best potential. Working together with the community and stakeholders in this way, we can achieve a Singapore that is fair and equal for both women and men.