I Vow Against VAW

Just a month ago, a 17 year-old girl filed a rape case against Butuan priest Fr. Raul Cabonce. “Leah,” the young girl, was a scholar of Fr. Cabonce and in return, she served as the priest’s househelp. It was February and March of this year when the priest allegedly molested her. The priest remains in the custody of the Butuan bishop, failing to face criminal charges against him in the court.

Leah’s case is just one of the numerous cases of violence against women and children in the country. Center for Women’s Resources (CWR) listed “7 Deadly Sins Against Women,” which includes rape and incest; sexual harassment; domestic violence or domestic abuse of women and children; sex trafficking, white slavery, and prostitution; sexual discrimination; inaccessibility to maternal health and childcare; and violence as a result of state repression.

According to CWR, in 2009 there were 9,485 cases of violence committed against women recorded by the PNP-Women and Children Protection Center. It means that in every hour one woman becomes a victim of violence and two women are being raped every day in 2009.

The numbers are indeed shocking and alarming. As a response to the increasing numbers of violence against women and children, GABRIELA launched several campaigns including “Rage Against Rape” and “VOW vs.VAW or Voices of Women vs. Violence Against Women.”

Violence against women is not only about physical and sexual abuse committed against women. The continuous increase of the prices of basic commodities can also be categorized as a form of violence against women. Urban and rural poor mothers cannot even afford to buy the most affordable goods such as noodles and sardines.

In fact, those families that live in urban poor communities in Tondo and Commonwealth end up collecting left-over food or pagpag from fast food restaurants in order to put food on their table.

This economic violence is partnered with political aggression. Mothers and women who chose to fight against such destitute conditions fall victims to political repression. Who would forget the forced disappearances of militant women like Karen Empeño and the pregnant Sherlyn Cadapan?

Past and even the current administration promised change, but the conditions of women and their families continue to worsen. Under the present administration, houses were demolished, workers were laid-off, farmers remain landless and women continue to walk with fear of being raped, robbed or harassed.

The failure to address the roots of poverty and feudal-patriarchal culture will just make the situation for women worse. Women can only be completely free from their chains when the society becomes free of oppression and abuse.

But we can do something to create change. We need to arouse, organize and mobilize more women in order to achieve the changes that we want. And the best time to start is now. To join GABRIELA and support its campaigns click here.

Ang mga babae ay hindi pangkama o pangkusina lamang.Kami ay may mahalagang papel na ginagamapanan sa lipunan.

-Ma. Lorena Barros