Where are women at today?

          National Statistics Office conducted a survey in 2008 regarding the experience on physical violence of women. This study by the National Demographic and Health survey states that one in 5 Filipino women as early as age 15 has experienced physical violence.

In lieu of the violence against women we have the:

Republic Act 9262

Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004

According to this chart from the Philippine Commission on Women, even after the law was passed the number of women in the labor force failed to increase and it has even decreased.

RA 9262 penalizes the commission of violence against women their children (VAWC) in the context of domestic violence or violence in intimate relationships. It defines VAWC as any act or a series of acts committed by any person against a woman who is his wife, former wife, or with whom the person has or had a sexual or dating relationship, or with whom he has a common child, or against her child whether legitimate or illegitimate, within or without the family abode, which results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological harm or suffering, or economic abuse including threats of such acts, battery, assault, coercion, harassment or arbitrary deprivation of liberty.

The Law also provides for the security of the complainant and her family through the availment of barangay, temporary, or permanent protection orders. The Law clearly identifies the duties of barangay officials, law enforcers, prosecutors, court personnel, healthcare providers and other government agencies and LGUs to provide the necessary protection and support services to VAWC victims. Furthermore, the Law recognizes "Battered Woman Syndrome" which refers to a scientifically defined pattern of psychological or behavioral symptoms found in women living in battering relationships as a result of cumulative abuse, as an acceptable defense for actions committed by the victim as a result of battering.

Data below are from the Philippine Commission on Women: 

• ·         Reported incidence of physical injury has been decreasing in the latter years. Its peak was in 2001 at 5,668 reported cases.
• ·         The decrease can be partly attributed to the enactment into law of RA 9262 or Anti-VAWC Act of 2004 which penalizes abusive husbands and live-in partners. However, in 2009 and 2010 the reported cases show an increasing trend but it slides back in 2011.
• ·         Reported rape cases which ranked third accounted for about 10.3 percent of total reported VAW cases from 2004 to 2011.
• ·         Acts of lasciviousness ranked fourth at an average of 520 reported cases accounting for 6.2 percent of all reported VAW cases from 2004 to 2011. The comparative figures indicate an upward trend of the reported cases after a record low of 382 reported cases in 2006.
• ·         Among the different regions, Region 6 (Western Visayas) posted the highest reported VAW cases from January to December 2011 with 2,772 reported cases, accounting for 21.4 percent of the total reported VAW cases nationwide.
• ·         Region 11 (Davao) comes next at 2,490 (19.2%) reported VAW cases followed by Region 7 (Central Visayas) with 1,447 reported VAW cases or 11.2 percent of the total reported VAW cases nationwide.
• ·         The Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) posted the lowest reported VAW cases with 81 cases in 2011.

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Ever since the beginning of time women were viewed to be inferior to men. Even the notion of where we women come from; rib of a man; suggests that we women are nothing without man. According to Beauvoir, as cited by Peracullo (2010), “Humanity is male and man defines woman not in herself but as relative to him. Man can think of himself without a woman. She cannot think of herself without a man”

Women? Who are those? Weak? Home buddies? Object of sexual desire? Incompetent?  -- Those were the notions towards women.

            Aside from those sterotypes we also have what we call the “paradox of domesticity” according to Filipino feminist Delia Aguilar (1988) which states that women are primarily viewed as caregivers of the family.

            In present era, women have started to gain more power and prove that they are not what they are stereotyped to be. We see women in the political field, business field, labor force and especially in the educational field. Women are not limited anymore to what they are ought to 

being caregivers but they are exceeding expectations and battling it head to head with males.  

            In lieu of this proliferation of Women’s rights we have the:

Republic Act 9710

Magna Carta of Women

The Magna Carta of Women is a comprehensive women's human rights law that seeks to eliminate discrimination against women by recognizing, protecting, fulfilling and promoting the rights of Filipino women, especially those in the marginalized sectors.

* Although, lay-offs in employment could possibly contribute to this data.

The awakening of feminist consciousness according to MacKinnon makes the division of power between male and female more real. Throught the consciousness raising of women we come to understand women as equals to men and not just a sub.

This realization of equality begins with:

1.    Invitation – This invitation is formed by wanting to know one’s body more. Searching and exploring relationships, discovering new things which then paves way to remembering.

2.    Remembering – “Remembering the forgotten, the rejected past experiences”

-       Remerging the past enables us to understand the present more

-       Understanding what has happened and  appreciating them

3.    Homecoming – After one has already searched and understood all that has happened to her she comes back home to her womanhood.

-       She now understands and therefore is freer because she knows herself more and quoting (Peracullo, 2010) “To be liberated is to have to know an identity of self-hood.”

Given all these.. where exactly are women at today? can we say that we are free and equal with men? can we say that we have escaped the stereotypes?

Sources:

Peracullo, J. (2010). I am angry because you are unjust: A filipino woman's awakening to feminism. Dalumat Ejournal, 1(2), Retrieved from http://ejournals.ph/index.php?journal=DALUMAT&page=article&op=view&path[]=507

Statistics on filipino women and men's labor and employment. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://pcw.gov.ph/statistics/201210/statistics-filipino-women-and-mens-labor-and-employment

Statistics on violence against filipino women. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://pcw.gov.ph/statistics/201210/statistics-violence-against-filipino-women

Journal 1

Heterosexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Bisexual? SO WHAT.

            We had an activity wherein we were tasked to draw our image of how we perceive heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals. We all have our preconceptions and misconceptions of how they are and often times have issues or a lot of comments on what they look like and how they act.

            The activity made me realize stereotypes are not only found in schools (i.e. Geeks, jocks, popular kids and what not...) it’s found also in the society we live in. I guess in earlier years homosexuality was a big issue; being a conservative country we wanted to preserve the image of girls being Maria Clara like and boys being the macho working selves they should be. Times have changed and so has our society. We are slowly accepting that there are some people who deviate from the prescribed norm and that has come to understand that they are not like the rest. Personally, don’t have any problems with them. If that’s how they want to be, so let it be. In my opinion as long as they are not hurting anyone and that makes then happy, then go J

            To be honest, some homosexual individuals are even more successful than the heterosexual ones ;) it just goes to show that whatever gender you may prefer it doesn't matter (well, sometimes it does) but it should never hinder you in achieving greater things in life J

INTERVIEW

Age: 49                      Occupation: Employee

Sex: Female

Interviewer: How were you expected to live your life as a female?

Respondent: As a toddler you were not supposed to scratch when something is itchy because you’ll get scars from it. Girls should always be flawless.

            Girls should not be rowdy (run, roam around) they are supposed to be quiet and sit properly and lady like. Girls should also play with girly toys not tex and other boyish toys. We were also expected to excel better academically than boys.

            During the teenage years, we were expected to help with household chores, take care of children, go to the market and clean the house. We were always expected to be mahinhin and not shout. Girls then were also not supposed to go out, that was what boys did. Instead we were supposed to stay at home and help with household related things. It was okay for boys to have barkada’s then but for girls it wasn’t the norm.

            Girls were also expected to have long hair either braided or in a ponytail. They were also expected to wear skirts and wear belo’s and a white dress whenever going to church. Most importantly they were expected to behave appropriately in school, at home, with friends, family, and work and in relation to the opposite sex.

            Your gender usually dictated the games you play, your hobbies, your routine, etc..

Interviewer: Did you conform to these expectations?

            Yes, of course.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

            Asking my mother the expected attributes of a young lady in the 60’s-70’s made me realize that based from how I behaved as a young girl I would not even pass as one. *laughs* I always shouted, always moved around and about, I didn't like wearing hair clips, didn't brush my hair, didn't like taking a bath although I played with dolls; my friends would always ask me to go out with them and play on the streets. I guess if you compare me to how my mother was when she was young; one can say that we were opposites. My mother was the type who always read books and went to the library as a hobby. I rarely read books and every time I had free time I would go out and play. I even have a scar on my right hand as a remembrance of how much adventure I had as a child.

            As years go by, norms change and somehow we are starting to be more liberal. We are starting to be more accepting of change and are deviating from what older folks would deem proper and traditional. In my opinion, change may either have a positive and negative effect on us. Positive in the sense that we gain new experiences through new events on the other hand we sometimes forget our roots, tradition and culture.

            The norms and our society will continue to change through the years and I guess as cliché and as overused as it may sound it’s up to the present generation to make an effort to preserve our historical roots and pass it on to the next generation to come.