Singapore’s anti-molestation ads create divide between advocates and police
- The posters appear on public transport and aim to deter potential offenders by highlighting the punishments associated with sexual violence
- However, the Association of Women for Action and Research claims the posters equate sexual violence to a ‘commodity to purchase and consume’
Last week, the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware), posted criticism on Facebook, asking: “What about the price that she [the victim] will have to pay in this scenario, which the poster makes no mention of?”
However, the criticism was rebuffed by the Singapore Police Force (SPF), which designed the posters in partnership with students from Singapore Polytechnic’s Media, Arts and Design School.
“Aware does not seem to have understood the purpose of the posters,” the SPF said in a Facebook post on Saturday.
Kelly Leow, Aware’s communications manager, said it was “inappropriate to literally hang a price tag on an act of sexual violence, thereby likening the act to a product or experience that one may purchase to enjoy”. “Surely that is not how people should view sexual violence – as a consumer good,” she said.
