In August 2022, gender equality group Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) in partnership with consumer research company, Milieu Insight, conducted Singapore’s first comprehensive survey on workplace discrimination – polling 1,000 respondents on their experiences of workplace discrimination.
The results showed approximately 55% of respondents have experienced at least one form of discrimination in the last five years. Pertaining to disability-based discrimination, the survey showed that persons with disabilities experience discrimination at a significantly higher rate of 78% compared to persons without disabilities who have experienced discrimination (50%).
This August 2022 study by AWARE is important as it is the first comprehensive study in Singapore that employs a definition of discrimination that includes both direct and indirect discrimination. Previous studies, such as a study published in March 2022 by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) which showed that approximately 8% of resident employees experience workplace discrimination in 2021, employ a narrower definition of discrimination compared to the AWARE August 2022 study.
As illustrated by the above accounts, incidents of indirect discrimination can be just as harmful and have as adverse effects as incidents of direct discrimination. Therefore, DPA notes the importance of the August 2022 AWARE study in indicating the prevalence rate of disability discrimination in Singapore.
