This talk was part of the monthly Woman Of The World (WOW) ladies gathering on Saturday, 27th September, 2014. Speaker: Sahar Pirzada reclaimculture.org

1. AWARE MISSION AND APPROACH
Association of Women for Action and Research
Established 1985
Mission: Promote Gender Equality
Research and Advocacy
Public Education
Support Services

2. GENDER
EQUALITY
IS OUR
CULTURE
E n a b l i n g C E D AW T h r o u g h G e n d e r
E q u i t a b l e I n t e r p r e t a t i o n s &
E x p r e s s i o n s o f C u l t u r e

3. WHAT IS THIS PROJECT?
● Main partners: AWARE in Singapore and
Solidaritas Perempuan in Indonesia
● Grant received from UN Women for 3-year
project (Sep 2013 - Aug 2016)
● Full project title: “Enabling CEDAW through
gender-equitable interpretations and expressions
of culture in Singapore, Indonesia and beyond”
● Short project title: “Gender equality is our
culture!”
● Implementation: Singapore, Indonesia with
outreach to Malaysia
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4. WHY CULTURE?
● Women: often prevented from enjoying full human
rights, due to excuse that their human rights contradict
‘culture’ or ‘traditional values’ – e.g. what a good X
woman should do.
● Singapore and Malaysia: reservations on CEDAW
articles on grounds of respecting ‘religion’.
● Gender Equality Is Our Culture: a project to promote
women’s rights as compatible with culture.
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5. KEY MESSAGES
▪ Don’t be restricted by what people claim
is your culture.
▪ There are multiple interpretations and
expressions of culture.
▪ You have the right to choose which
cultural interpretations and expressions
to adopt
▪ You have multiple identities and you can
participate in multiple cultures
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6. GOAL
Strengthen capacity of gender advocates and
stakeholders in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia
to promote gender-equitable interpretations and
expressions of culture
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What are you doing to promote gender
equality in your community?

7. WHAT’S A GENDER ADVOCATE?
● A gender advocate promotes gender
equality.
● What’s gender equality?
● The view that both men and women have
the right to:
o Make informed choices
o Have control over their bodies and fertility
o Maximise their potential
o Share rights and responsibilities
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8. Private sphere
Marriage & divorce
Family
Reproductive rights
Public sphere
Economic autonomy
Leadership
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9. ISSUES
• Early marriage
• Polygamy
• Family
• Sexual & Reproductive Rights
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