A separate case filed by Kawshegan in a Singapore magistrate’s court was dismissed last month for abuse of process, and the woman’s lawyers said Kawshegan was ordered to pay her legal costs. was In that suit, he sought about $17,000, alleging that the woman breached an “offer” he had made that included a “place of offer.” [Kawshigan] to share inspiration, struggles and successes” and “meeting based on mutual availability beyond coffee settings.”
The position of the woman was that The lawsuit seeking $17,000 was an abuse of process because it was “brought for an improper purpose” to compel her to “among other things, his demands to resume negotiations with her.” Comply with.”
Describes the case a The challenge facing women around the world: That men sometimes feel entitled to their love. Women’s rights and gender equality advocate Aware Singapore said in a statement about the case that “women are not owed their time or attention, much less their friendship, love, sexual activity or emotional labor”. “Trying to demand or compel these things by legal means or by any other means may constitute harassment.”
Singapore ranks 49th in the World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Gender Gap Report, making it the country with the second highest level of gender equality in Asia after the Philippines. Japan has long struggled with gender-based income inequality, and mere whispers of feminism in South Korea can make a big noise. Yet, like many other developed nations, Singapore is grappling with sexism and corruption, such as the prevalence of incest, or involuntarily celibate, anti-feminist men.
Kawashigan first met the woman in 2016 in a “social setting,” according to the magistrate’s court ruling. “Over time, their friendship blossomed, but problems began to arise” in September 2020, when “they became misunderstandings about how they viewed their relationship.”
The woman saw Cowshegan as a friend, while Cowshegan “considered him his ‘close friend,'” according to court records, which said she asked Cowshegan to see her less often, which upset her. was He said such action would be a “step back” in their “relationship”. He, in turn, said they needed to set boundaries, and urged Kawashigan to become “self-reliant.”
Kawashigan, according to the verdict, “didn’t react well to that.”
He sent the woman a letter in October 2020 threatening legal action for damages for “emotional distress and possible defamation”. She told Kawashigan that she was genuinely nervous. He threatened her with “losses in personal and professional endeavors” if she did not comply with his demands.
According to court records, the woman agreed to participate in counseling sessions with Kawashigan, which kept her legal risks at bay. But after about 1½ years of counseling, he realized the exercises had become pointless, he said, as Cowshegan “was unable to accept his reasons for not having a relationship or having a relationship with him.”
He obtained a restraining order against Kawashigan, who then filed suit in magistrate court while the other suit was pending.
Cowshegan said in an email that “since significant proceedings are still pending,” he would not comment until the case is decided. Kawashigan represented himself in both cases, according to court records.
Siwan Chen, an associate professor of law at the Singapore Management University, said Kawashigan’s claim had “probably no merit”.
“Sufficiently, the foreseeable loss must arise from something, whether in contract or tort,” he said, adding that the magistrate court’s decision showed that “neither can be established.”
