On The SHE Press Conference

29 May – Stefanie Yuen Thio was quoted in The Straits Times by Syarafana Shafeeq, in her capacity as chairperson of SG Her Empowerment (SHE). The article reported on the SHE press conference held on 29 May, where Stefanie shared results of a new study which revealed how anonymity remains a major roadblock for those seeking justice after facing online harms or harassment. She said she hopes the new study will be able to inform some of the decisions that the Government will make when it comes to setting up a new agency to help victims of online harms.

Stefanie added that when someone is assaulted in the physical world, they can lock the doors when back home and feel safe being surrounded by family. With the online world, the individual is never safe because they are never away from their devices and hence, are under threat 24/7. She describes how even without looking at the device, every time it pings, your heart jumps. If you turn it to silent mode, you wonder how many messages are going to come through when you turn it on again. She highlighted an urgent gap in the system – that it is fragmented and hence victims do not know where to go when something happens. Further, she noted that each part of the system provides limited recourse—a silos of help—but it is not a comprehensive solution.

29 May – Stefanie Yuen Thio was quoted in Lianhe Zaobao by Ng Jun Xian, in her capacity as the chairperson of SHE. Stefanie said that although Singapore’s cybersecurity efforts are at the forefront, there are still shortcomings and many victims are deeply traumatised and feel frustrated and helpless because they have no control over their situations. She hopes that the Cyber ​​Security and Protection Agency by the government will address some of the more urgent situations, recognising also that no single agency or law can solve everything as real progress requires a whole-of-society effort.

Stefanie also describes existing relevant mechanisms and systems as “fragmented” and lack a unified way to solve the problem, where if she were to encounter harm online, she wouldn’t know which channels to go to. She adds that each agency has its own limitations and hopes to have a more effective and direct way to provide timely help to victims.

29 May – Stefanie Yuen Thio was quoted in an AsiaOne article by Khoo Yi-Hang. The article featured a cyberbullying survivor sharing his trauma. He was one of the 25 people between age 18 and 45 interviewed by SHE on the toll on survivors of online harms.

Stefanie was quoted in her capacity as chairperson of SHE, where she shared that survivors of online harms are left feeling traumatised and frustrated by a lack of agency. She also called for a whole-of-society effort, where each of us must rethink what we consider ‘normal’ online behaviour because if we do not challenge these norms now, online harms won’t just be normalised — they’ll be entrenched.

31 May – Stefanie Yuen Thio was quoted in Berita Harian by Izwandi Azman. The article covered how victims of online harm are unsure of how to get help. Stefanie was quoted saying that she hopes the new study will be able to inform some of the decisions that the Government will make when it comes to setting up a new agency to help victims of online harms.