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Snippets of the Productive Camp Among 80++ youth leaders of the Youth and Students for the Advancement of Gender Equality (YSAGE)
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5qVhDCO6dM
Part 2 YSAGE Launch in December 2009
Sign-on Petition site
Petition to Immediately Pass the Anti-Prostitution Bill
We, the undersigned citizens, believe that prostitution is a severe form of women’s human rights violation and should be immediately addressed, towards elimination.
We, therefore, strongly urge our honorable Senators and House Representatives to immediately pass the anti-prostitution bill or Committee Report No. 50 on SB 1836, sponsored by Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero and Sen. Pia Cayetano, amending the Revised Penal Code provision on White Slavery and repealing Art. 202, with reference to prostitutes. The counterpart bill at the House of Representatives is HB 970, sponsored by Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, Darlene Custodio, Liza Masa, etc.) The bill decriminalizes persons exploited in prostitution and punishes the business and buyers of prostitution as they consist the demand side to this system of exploitation.
The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific (CATW-AP), together with survivors and other women’s groups, have been lobbying for its passage in the last 9 years. The Violence against Women and their Children Act of 2004 (RA 9262), the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 (RA 9208) and the Anti-Rape Law of 1997 (RA 8353), all took 8-10 years before passage. It must be more than enough waiting for the women’s groups for this law to be enacted.
Rest assured that we will support and continue to monitor developments regarding this bill.
Signed,
Signatories at Sign-on Petition site
Is this Government Really Criminal-Friendly?
We, women’s groups, are outraged by the impending transfer of convicted rapist Francisco Juan “Paco” Larrañaga to a penal facility in Spain to serve the remainder of his life sentence for the rape and murder of the Chiong sisters in Cebu in 1997.
Not many Filipinos are aware that a RP-Spain Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement has been signed by our government in May 2007, and supported by a domestic law that became effective in January 2008. The local law was authored by Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu, 2nd District).
First, may we ask the responsible legislators as to why they prioritized the country of Spain for this treaty? In November 2007, while this bill was being deliberated on, the Chiong family already expressed objection to the passage of the RP-Spain TSPA for favoring Larrañaga. During the same period, Larranaga was appealing his conviction to the Supreme Court.[1] Is it pure coincidence that the rapist is a “scion of the powerful and wealthy Osmeña clan of Cebu”[2]?
Second, why prioritize Spain when 128 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are languishing in Kuwaiti jails compared to seven (7) detained in Spain? Then Executive Director Ed Malaya of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) Legal Affairs Office commented that the law will benefit Filipinos serving their sentences in other countries. The Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur reported that the most number of Filipino detainees is found in Malaysia with 1,600. DFA itself reported that as of June 2007, there were 4,770 Filipinos languishing in jails in 63 countries and territories. Following Malaysia was Japan with 734, with 130 in the Osaka area; Qatar, 554; U.S., 406; Abu Dhabi, 198; Saudi Arabia (Jeddah only) 161; Hong Kong, 127.[3]
Let us not forget the cases of Romeo Jalosjos, Claudio Teehankee, Jr., Chavit Singson and other criminals who got executive pardon for financial and political reasons. When government favors convicted rapists or simply “reprimands” its appointed officials accused of wife battering, who all come from the elite, where do ordinary citizens turn to for justice? Yet, we must remain vigilant and pursue perpetrators of sexual crimes against women, even as they may be protected by this government itself.
We stand in solidarity with the family of the victims. Justice must be served to the end.
Signed:
Jean Enriquez, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific (CATW-AP) and World March of Women – Pilipinas
Marlene Sindayen, Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL)-Women
Atty. Cristina Sevilla, WomenLEAD and ECPAT-Philippines
Lotlot D. Requizo, KAISA-KA
Ana Maria R. Nemenzo, WomanHealth, Philippines
Liza Gonzales, Bagong Kamalayan Collective, Inc. (BKCI)
Monina Geaga, Sarilaya
Mercedes Fabros, Welga ng Kababaihan
Anna Leah Sarabia, Kababaihan Laban sa Karahasan Foundation
Yuen Abana, Task Force Subic Rape (TFSR)
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[1] http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/man/2007/11/17/news/rp.spain.treaty.to.benefit.ofws.lawmaker.html
[3] http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2008/0528_villar1.asp
CATW-AP executive director Jean Enriquez
19 August 09 – The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the Philippines-based Coalition Against Trafficking in Women- Asia Pacific (CATW-AP) conducted the first ever all-male youth workshop on gender sensitivity in Thailand on May 9-10.
Lynette Corporal/IPS – Of those who applied for slots, 30 university students from Bangkok were selected to participate. CATW-AP executive director Jean Enriquez talks to IPS about the significance and impact of the workshop on changing the misconceptions of men about women and helping put a stop to violence against women.
This is the first time that a workshop on gender sensitivity was held for males in Thailand. How did the idea come about?
UNIFEM initiated the project, and we understand (it was) also inspired by the presentation we made at its conference on ’Men as Partners to End Violence Against Women’ on Sep. 3-4, 2007, where a young male graduate of our camps spoke.
Our project in the Philippines started in 2004. We have since conducted eight camps across the country involving 350 young men. This was followed by camps on ’Gender Issues, Sexuality and Prostitution’ for young women to address their vulnerability to sex trafficking. The graduates of the camps have become advocates (against) sexual violence and have created a multiplier effect as they mobilise at least 100 to 300 more young people to every forum they organise.
Based on what the participants in Thailand shared during the workshop, how would you describe the views of young Thai men on gender sensitivity as compared to other men in other Asian countries?
What actually stood out is the similarity in terms of socialisation. It is clear that patriarchal values cut across races. There are numerous efforts to help women, children, perhaps even men in the sex industry in Thailand. But efforts to challenge buying/consumption, and therefore this component of the demand side to sex trafficking, is still wanting. An enabling environment coming from the academe, government and civil society that widely critiques male consumption of sexually trafficked persons would facilitate young people’s understanding that there is a norm among duty-bearers to oppose such practices.
How do Thai men view issues of gender equality, homosexuality and masculinity?
Homosexuality is not a difficult issue for young Thai men, who recognize that homosexuals have rights similar to heterosexuals. Particularly challenging for them is removing ideas that blame women victims of rape and prostitution. There are strong beliefs among them that women want or provoke rape. The massive sexualisation of women’s images in media shapes their inclination to believe that women want sexual violence.
What other misconceptions about gender-based violence surfaced during the workshop?
That women enjoy pornography and are being used in the sex industry, that men should earn more than women, and that women should primarily perform housework.
What are the dangers of young men seeing themselves as ’protectors’ and ’helpers’ of women who have been subjected to various kinds of violence. Shouldn’t they instead see women as ’equals’?
Chivalrous ideas — which are still underpinned by views that men are strong and women are weak — are the normalised definitions of ’gentlemanhood’. Some may come from positive values as respect, but the training asserted that those have to be reinvestigated (to see if there are) assumed weakness on the part of women and assumed strength and privilege on the part of men.
As for proposals for concrete actions on fighting violence against women, the training included, for example, a proposal such as “don’t assume that women want to be protected; rather ask if (they) need help”. One should act based on capacities and skills on observed forms of violence against women. Collective actions are encouraged.
What kind of feedback and commitment did you get from the participants at the end of the workshop?
The feedback (from the participants) was very heartening. They expressed interest in working with CATW-AP and UNIFEM. Many young students want further training. They even want to come to the Philippines, having heard of our long-term programmes. Many admitted to acts they deem are violative of women and committed to start (correcting their actions).
A basic parameter of the training is creating a conducive and safe space for young men to share and reflect on their socialisation, thinking, beliefs and behaviour, so as to facilitate authentic redefinition of masculinities towards more positive relations with themselves, (the) women around them, other sectors considered marginalised (i.e., children, homosexuals, etc), and society at large.
Your future plans? Will there be future workshops in rural areas as well?
JE: We hope we can get involved in training other stakeholders such as teachers in rural areas in Thailand. We would not pretend that we can learn the (Thai) language quickly to be able to train young people in the rural areas; learning the language is crucial. In our experience, it has not been difficult to reach out to schools in the rural areas.
This feature was produced by IPS Asia-Pacific under a series on gender and development, with the support of UNIFEM East and South-east Asia Regional Office
source: Human Rights Tribune
