DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Hundreds of individuals from different organizations in the city gathered as the global campaign One Billion Rising (OBR) 2020 was launched on Wednesday morning at the Bankerohan campus of the University of the Immaculate Conception.
Women mostly joined the regular annual campaign here in Davao City to raise awareness on the rights on women and call to end all forms of violence against them. They were joined by men, members of the LGBT community and people from different sectors such as farmers, workers, indigenous peoples, students, and urban poor.
Now on its seventh year, the OBR 2020 carries the theme, “Raise the Vibration, Rise for Revolution.”
In the Philippines, women continue to struggle for dignity and respect, said Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) Rep. Arlene Brosas.
Brosas said that violence against women and children continues to intensify, however, as there are no substantive reforms done under the current administration to protect these rights.
“It is sad to know that this regime only verbally says that women’s situation will change, but there are no actions to (support) it. We can’t expect anything from that. What we need now is a complete action to address the problem,” Brosas said.
She said that there are many cases of women and children being harassed, beaten, and raped.
The State is “perpetuating” this violence against women and children, Brosas stressed.
Apart from domestic violence, Brosas underscored the structural violence wherein policies pushed by the government do not help the basic sectors of women, like peasants and workers.
“We also want to highlight basic issues, including employment, living wages, etc. Also, peasant women are still landless,” Brosas said.
Meanwhile, Gabriela Deputy Secretary-General Bai Ali Indayla lauded the increasing number of participants for OBR each year.
“These are the individuals who are not in fear to fight for their rights, and struggle for the people,” Indayla said.
“Let us continue to make our voices louder so that the President, the government, will hear what changes that us women want, what society we want the Filipino people to live with,” Indayla said. (davaotoday.com)
