Why was CASMIDA formed?

There has been a rising number of reported cases of campus sexual misconduct at universities in Singapore in the past few years. Between 2015 and 2019, 172 cases were reported at institutes of higher learning, which is to say nothing of unreported cases. The turning point came when students who had been affected by sexual voyeurism and harassment began taking to their social media to make their cases known to the public. This had a ripple effect and marked the first time that institutions and the entire academic community in Singapore had to grapple with these important issues.

As educators and researchers, we asked ourselves what we could do to teach and support our students and create a safe environment for them. The realization dawned on us that there was no research on campus sexual misconduct in Singapore and the existing scholarship on technologically facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) mainly in Australia, the United States, United Kingdom, and elsewhere tells us very little about what is ongoing in Asia. Michelle Ho, a faculty at the National University of Singapore (NUS), formed a team with fellow NUS scholars to begin research in this area.

What are the aims of CASMIDA?

CASMIDA aims to offer some answers to the multiple complex questions we currently have on campus sexual misconduct in Singapore. Our team is committed to building increased awareness of sexual violence in a campus setting as well as shaping current policies and measures for supporting the needs of students.

Note that although our researchers are currently based in NUS and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), this is an independent research project.

In our first pilot study, “Detrimental to Our Well-Being: Digital Technologies and Campus Sexual Misconduct in Singapore,” we seek to understand the well-being of students in light of sexual assault and harassment occurring at universities that come about as a result of using digital technologies like social media, online platforms, and mobile applications. Read more about this study here.