Women's Action Day
Women’s March in a protest rally, dubbed Women’s Action Day, on the second day of the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development. Around 1,000 women joined the protest with their calls: “Women migrants are not commodities!” and “Uphold women’s rights!”
photo by FDC
On the Occasion of International Day of No Prostitution:
Women Activists, Migrant Workers Assail Sexist Portrayal of Filipino Domestic Workers in BBC Segment
Call for Full Employment and End to Sexual Exploitation!
More than 100 members of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific (CATW-AP), People’s Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights (People’s Global Action), Alliance of Progressive Labor – Women (APL), World March of Women – Pilipinas and PREDA Foundation gathered this afternoon in front of the House of Representatives to mark the International Day of No Prostitution (IDNP) and call for the immediate passage of House Bill 970 or the Anti-Prostitution Bill.
As the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) to be held in Manila comes closer, the alliance of organizations lambasted the sexist and racist exploitation of women here and abroad. “Worse,” Jean Enriquez, Executive Director of CATW-AP said, “this sexual exploitation of Filipino women is normalized and reinforced by shows such as BBC’s Harry and Paul. Worst, our government’s inaction on the unemployment problem relegates our women precisely to situations of sexual exploitation.”
Holding placards asserting that prostitution is not work, the APL criticized the toleration by the government of the prostitution industry. According to the labor center, even the International Labor Organization, in its report entitled The Sex Sector: The economic and social bases of prostitution in Southeast Asia normalized prostitution by stating that “adults can choose prostitution as work”, naming it as sex work.
Marlene Sindayen of the APL was indignant, emphasizing that “government policies should be towards creation of local work with dignity, full employment for all Filipino people and not contractualization, nor promotion of a labor export policy that results in intensified vulnerabilities of women to trafficking and sexual exploitation.”
IMF, in today’s news, warns that migrants will be affected by the financial crisis as companies in host countries start laying off employees. This makes the call for full employment in the country of origin even more urgent, the group said. Based on the labor force survey of 2007, it is evident that the government’s major job generation design is not for local employment, rather it is for sending workers overseas, targeting 1 million annually.
“The government keeps on sending Filipinos abroad for profit. However, it is neglecting its primary duty to prioritize the protection, welfare and human rights of the migrants” according to Ellene Sana, representative of the People’s Global Action, a collaboration of various local and international groups and activists that challenges the GFMD.
It is very ironic and shameful that the Philippines is viewed in the global arena as the model in labor migration even as it fails to address the human rights violations, gender oppression and discrimination confronted by our women migrants.
Meanwhile, survivors of prostitution joined the rally to call for the immediate passage of the anti-prostitution law that seeks to eliminate sexual exploitation in the long term, and decriminalize the victims therein. “We immediately need the anti-prostitution law that will protect the victims from further abuse” declared by Liza Gonzales, a survivor of street prostitution and an officer of Bagong Kamalayan Collective, Inc. (BKCI), a survivor’s group that organizes prostituted women in Quezon City area. According to BKCI’s data, from August and first week of September alone, they were able to rescue almost 70 women who were arrested using the recent SB Discipline Zone. This new project introduced by QC Mayor Belmonte together with QC Police District and Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) was launched April of this year. The intent of the project is to “clean the major thoroughfares from illegal terminals, vendors, jaywalkers, traffic violators and street toughies.” However, this new policy is also being applied to prostituted women, especially in the Cubao area.
“We, prostituted women, are not trashes that should be swept out of the streets just for the purpose of beautification. What we need are protection and alternatives, not further abuse!” Gonzales added.
“Criminalizing prostituted women using the Vagrancy Act and policies like “Discipline Zones” are unconstitutional and constitute human rights violation,” added Enriquez. If the local and national governments are really committed to do their jobs, they should allocate their energies and resources in solving the root cause of the problem and not in doing the easy work of covering up the symptoms, the women’s coalition’s Executive Director said.
A delegation went inside the House of Representatives to lobby for the immediate passage of the House Bill 970 to House Speaker Prospero Nograles, Representatives Pablo Garcia and Nanette Daza, Chairs of the Committees on Revision of Laws and Women, respectively.
A street presentation was delivered by the members of the theater group of PREDA foundation portraying the lives of the victims/survivors of trafficking and prostitution.
“The two UK comedians and BBC owe Filipino people especially women, a sincere apology” the group said. “Exploitation is not entertainment and will never be. BBC’s Harry and Paul (video sketch) encourages trafficking of women – the delivery of women abroad as domestic workers, to put them in situations of sexual exploitation.”
The action ended with chants of “Women & Migrants are not Commodities! Provide work with dignity and full employment to all, not prostitution! Pass the Anti-Prostitution Bill!
MANILA, Philippines – When 37-year-old Remy packed up for Singapore last August, she had no idea that she would be into the flesh trade.
Her recruiter forced her into prostitution so that she could pay the airfare and other processing expenses to the Lion City, which reached P100, 000.
Without any other means to pay her debts, Remy had to follow arrangements made by a pimp to serve “customers”in hotels.
“We had no other choice. Everything I earned (from prostituting) I surrendered it all to the recruiter,” she said in a GMA News report.
Forty-year-old Gemma, who was also lured to work in Southeast Asia’s wealthiest country, felt helpless in the two months she was held captive by a prostitution ring.
“We had to beg for our own fares. For dinner we ate leftovers,” she recalled.
Fortunately, through the help of the Philippine government and several groups, the two escaped from their captors and returned home earlier this month. However, 28 of their colleagues are still being held in a prostitution den in Singapore, awaiting rescue.
The recorded cases of Filipino women being “trafficked” to the ‘Lion City’ last year have surged to 70 percent, according to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
In a report to the DFA, the Philippine Embassy in Singapore cited “an alarming increase” in the number of victims to 212 in 2007 from 125 cases in 2006.
The report said 57 Filipinas or 27 percent of the 212 victims of human trafficking admitted to either having engaged in prostitution or coerced by Filipino and Singaporean handlers to prostitute themselves.
Of the 57 victims, the embassy said “39 were pub workers, 15 worked in the escort service, while three were pick-up girls.”
Victims are considered “trafficked” if they have been deceived, coerced, or subjected to conditions of exploitation as defined by Republic Act 9208, a Philippine law otherwise known as the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.
On the occasion of the International Day of No Prostitution on Wednesday, several women and migrants’ rights groups have urged Philippine lawmakers to push for the Anti-Prostitution Bill (House Bill 970) that would protect women like Gemma and Remy from being abused in their own country and abroad.
About 100 members of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific (CATW-AP), People’s Global Action, Alliance of Progressive Labor-Women, World March of Women-Pilipinas and Preda gathered in front of the House of Representatives in Quezon City to support the measure.
Marlene Sindayen, APL-Women spokesperson, told GMANews.TV that the policies of the government should be geared toward the creation of decent and dignified work for women.
Sindayen criticized the International Labor Organization’s report on the sex sector, which said that “adults can choose prostitution as work.”
“Government policies should be towards creation of local work with dignity… not (the) promotion of a labor export policy that results in intensified vulnerabilities of women to trafficking and sexual exploitation,” Sindayen said.
Filipina migrants are often employed in 3D jobs – dirty, dangerous and difficult – that expose them to further abuse and exploitation abroad.
Cheaper travel expenses for trafficking
Consul General Renato Villa told GMANews.TV that syndicates had taken advantage of budget air fares in smuggling female workers to Malaysia.
A local airline company for instance could charge a one-way ticket to Kota Kinabalu– one of the top destinations of trafficked Filipina prostitutes – for as low as P 1,000. Filipinas who are lured to work in Kuala Lumpur or Singapore are often diverted to Kota Kinabalu to work as prostitutes.
“Nagiging talamak dahil sa (It becomes rampant because of) budget airfares,” Villa said.
The Philippine government had earlier ordered the immigration bureau to heighten its security at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Pampanga province, which has been a favorite exit point for undocumented workers seeking work in Malaysia.
’Culture of Silence’
Jean Enriquez, CATW-AP executive director, said some of the trafficked Filipino women come from various ethnic minority groups that practice a “culture of silence.”
In her report before the 10th National Convention on Statistics, Enriquez said the “culture of silence in the ethnic groups prevent women and their families from reporting victimization to trafficking and prostitution.”
Enriquez said the indigenous women trafficked came from the following ethnic groups: B’laan, T’Boli, Kaulo, Maranao, Mandaya, Badjao, Sama, Manobo and other ethnic groups in Mindanao.
She also explained that prostituted women have an eroded sense of self. They consider themselves as “damaged goods,” and tolerate prostitution as part of reality.
“They think to themselves: ‘Why not earn from this, since I’m used daily anyway,’” Enriquez said.
In the recently concluded International Conference on Gender, Migration and Development at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Manila, about 436 participants urged governments to commit in creating fair and gender sensitive polices and practices.
According to the participants — some of whom came from the United Nations (UN) and ILO — sending workers, especially women, into jobs in countries where their rights and dignity are “grossly violated” should be discouraged.
They said governments should promote “gender responsive provisions” in bilateral agreements and memorandums of understanding in favor of women workers and at the same time provide alternatives for safe migration or jobs at home. – MARK JOSEPH H. UBALDE, GMANews.TV
MANILA, Philippines – Many overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who complain to Philippine posts abroad about their employers often endure another abuse, this time from discourteous embassy and consular officials who think “lowly” of migrant workers.
Lawyer Bernard Gregorio of the non-government Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services, said abused OFWs often remain quiet about the alleged impoliteness of the said officials.
“OFWs simply charge the whole thing to experience,” Gregorio told GMANews.TV on Monday.
Although Filipino migrant workers have every right to complain and even sue discourteous Philippine authorities under the Civil Service Rules, OFWs often do not file a case because they think it will cause them major inconvenience, according to Gregorio.
“They would normally ask the media’s help but they won’t file formal complaints in the Civil Service Commission. Well, one, because it is such a hassle,” Gregorio said.
“Filipino workers who remain in the custody of the Philippine Embassy keep quiet about their ordeal with these officials in fear that their petition to return home might not be approved,” the lawyer added.
He said Filipino migrants also believe that their complaints will be dismissed anyway, thus they just regard discourtesy and indifference as “normal attitude” among embassy officials.
Gregorio cited the case of a former domestic helper in Singapore who asked a Filipino official’s help after her Singaporean employer failed to give her monthly salary of $400.
Instead of hearing the OFW’s complaint or at the very least recording the incident, the Philippine official reportedly insulted the domestic helper, Gregorio said.
According to Gregorio, the consular official reportedly told the woman: “Eh inilagay lang naman sa kontrata ‘yan para tumaas ng konti ang tingin sa inyo (That salary rate was only put in your contract so that they would not think so lowly of you).”
Josua Mata, secretary-general of Alliance of Progressive Labor, a union-forming organization, echoed Gregorio’s view.
“These officials have an attitude problem toward migrant workers, especially domestic helpers” Mata said.
This is also the view of Jean Enriquez of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. “Just look at how OFWs see Philippine officials abroad and that’s your gauge of their service.”
According to Enriquez, Filipino officials need to undergo more training in human relations to better equip them in dealing with various complaints from OFWs.
Labor Undersecretary Rosalinda Baldoz in an earlier report urged OFWs to expose discourteous Philippine embassy and labor personnel in their work sites so they could be punished.
Baldoz, who had worked in the overseas labor sector for several years, said errant and discourteous Filipino officials could face disciplinary actions that range from warning to permanent dismissal.
She also said the two-month immersion period of Foreign Service officers under the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and labor and welfare officers under the Labor department should require an intensified human resource component. – MARK JOSEPH H. UBALDE, GMANews.TV
By MARIA ALETA O. NIEVA abs-cbnNEWS.com
A coalition against sexual exploitation that advocates women’s rights on Friday called on government to tackle protection for women migrant workers in the coming 2008 Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) in Manila.
“The Global Forum on Migration and Development [GFMD], the destination countries should really talk about the protection of the workers especially women workers in relation to trafficking at saka yung pantay na turing sa mga manggagawang pumupunta doon,” said Jean Enriquez of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific (CATW-AP).
Governments from all over the world will meet October 27 to 30 for the 2nd GFMD with the theme “Protecting and Empowering Migrants for Development.”
The People’s Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights, where the CATW-AP is participating, urge government to “desist viewing migration principally in economic terms and as national development strategies, while pushing back the protection of migrant workers’ basic human rights and interest in the international migration agenda.”
Enriquez said CATW-AP is representing more than 300 organizations in the Asia-Pacific region. However, many of the destination countries found in the region is considered as problematic when it comes to the treatment of migrant workers.
Enriquez said women comprise about 72 to 74 percent of all overseas Filipino workers.
Despite claims by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration [POEA] that the deployment of women workers decreased this year, many still managed to leave for work abroad as undocumented workers making them more vulnerable to abuses and miserable situations.
“Ang training sa mga kababaihan ay hindi mag-giit ng kanilang karapatan kaya mas vulnerable silang pagsamantalahan, dahilan sa mga mapang-aliping sitwasyon kagaya ng pagsasamantala o paggamit sa kanila bilang prostitutes,” Enriquez explained.
A lot of women are subjected to such situations where they end up being maltreated, rape victims or peddled as sex workers.
Enriquez admits that migration’s social costs are much difficult for women workers and the children they leave behind.
She said trafficking of Filipino women will persist if the government does not address the problem with the prostitution demand in countries like those in the Asia Pacific region.
“Ang aming panawagan ay tugunan ang batayang problema ng unemployment; tugunan din ang demand sa trafficking. Full employment dito hanggat maari magkaroon ng options na lokal na sustainable na trabaho, trabahong may dignidad. Ang migrants ay ‘di commodity at higit sa lahat ang migrants di kalakal,” she said.
