Sara Dean enlightened us about AWARE's history in being involved with sexual harassment issues. We learnt about AWARE?s collaboration with TheatreWorks in Making a Right Decision, where forum theatre was employed alongside a postcard campaign, to bring about awareness about this often silenced problem.

Many surprising revelations were made after completing a questionnaire, which included matters on legal policies in various countries. It introduced scenarios of sexual harassment to all the participants and after going through the answers as a group, we left feeling more empowered by the knowledge gained from being aware.

--Kamala and Chand.

MEDIA SESSION
The session conducted by Braema Mathi, President of AWARE, on the 20th of July, dealt with media representations of gender.

Language is the basis of all communication, for without it society will be rendered incapable of maintaining itself. This is due to the ability of words to call us into our social roles. The media session conducted by Braema was insightful because it enabled us to break down the walls of words that boxed us into thinking a certain way. That gave us a fresh perspective on how to view society and ourselves in particular.

--Michelle Chen

By being aware that news reporting may not always be as objective as we hoped, and what we see, may not always be what we get, we are no longer passive readers. Being aware empowers me to be able to choose what I want to believe, and make informed decisions thereafter. Now that I?m empowered, I?m no longer oblivious.

-Melissa Lee