Letter was publsihed in the Straits Times, Forum Page, on the 21st of Sept, 2005.

I refer to a Forum Page letter entitled 'Women Should Kick Up a Fuss When Molested' (ST; Sept 17th). I thank Mr Nandakumar Narasimhan for highlighting this recent case, and  for helping to apprehend a molester.

It is my hope that he and other like-minded men will also join The Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) in this year's White Ribbon Campaign when men, in solidarity with women, say No to Violence Against Women and Children.  Check out http://www.aware.org.sg/ for more information. 

Mr Nandakumar raises a crucial point in his letter, the notion of empowerment. Statistics show that there are at least three reported cases of outrage of modesty every day in Singapore. By their filing a report against the perpetrators, we know that these three women were empowered enough to know that they had been wronged.

But there is a silent majority of women and girls who put up with such molestations, harassment, and sexual innuendoes.  Either they do not know what to do, or accept that this is part of a woman/girl's lot, or worse still, think they have done something to deserve it.

AWARE believes that all women can arm themselves with skills and knowledge that allow them to go beyond staring at the perpetrator.  Perpetrators need to be sent a strong message that they cannot repeat their stunt on another woman or girl.

The AWARE Training Institute (ATI) runs 2 /3 hour workshops on personal empowerment, with topics such as Dealing with Harassment, Being Assertive, Dynamics of Confrontation, Mastering Self-Esteem, and many others.

For women in distress, we also run an AWARE helpline: 1800 774 5935 Mon to Fri (4pm to 10pm).

Ms Winifred Loh

Chairperson

AWARE Training Institute