Celebrating the Rightful Power and Dignity of Women

We have seen phenomenal developments in the respect, status, freedom, progress and achievements of women in the modern world. They have achieved positions of power as presidents and prime ministers, holding important government and corporate positions and being inspirational, outstanding civic leaders and influencers for the good. They have shown themselves capable in every sphere of life, as intelligent and even more so in many cases than males, becoming astronauts, teachers and leaders. They have succeeded in every profession and are outstanding musicians, singers, scientists, writers, poets, artists and athletes and many more.

 

Jasmine Harrison, 21, is now the youngest woman in the world to row solo across the Atlantic in 70 days. Chinese director Chloé Zhao, 32, became the first Asian woman to win the best director award at the Golden Globes this year. The 38-year old was the second woman to win the award and it shows they are making headway yet a long way to go for women in the movie industry.

 

Besides these successes in gaining status of women to live with dignity and freedom, there are the more essential attributes of great value in a woman’s humanity. That is her intrinsic attitude of nurturing love and caring for others. This is coming from her vital and indispensable femininity upon which humanity depends for its continuity and survival.

 

It is her unique role to choose to have children, to nurture and protect and care for them and guide and develop them as authentic human beings. That is why her womanhood and motherhood is actually more precious, more important and more vital than that of her male companion.

 

It is the mother, the source of human life, that has the most powerful influence on the early years of her child to build a sense of security, to give affirmation, to make a family bonded in strong values of trust, honesty, faithfulness and togetherness. A strong family, bonded in mutual respect and support, is the building foundation of society and nationhood. Protecting and supporting family life is a most fundamental responsibility and duty of government. Failure to do so brings disaster and serious social problems of every kind.

 

Mothers are hurt, pained and challenged by the unfaithfulness of men. As the sometimes irresponsible, promiscuous, morally-bankrupt, vice-prone male seeks multiple partners, the mothers are increasingly abandoned, divorced and left as single mothers to cope and fend for themselves and support their children. The huge number of single mothers that have risen to the challenge to care for their children and work part-time and full-time must give all people a sense of wonderment, reverence and appreciation of their resilience and abilities. Yet it is difficult, hard and lonely as they face a day of labour while caring for their children. Many cannot cope and children are neglected as the mother, some deprived of education, without opportunity, struggle to survive for the day.

 

The strong contribution of the elderly women, the grandmother in a family, is the strong pillar of support for her daughters and grandchildren continuously helping the struggling fatherless family. It is such women who need, not only the admiration, but the support, help and protection of society. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance” and that the “family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.” We know the struggle of women and mothers is not just economic. They are in need of psychological and social services to help them care for their children. The state has responsibilities to support and protect women, the family and children. It is the families all together that makes society, makes a nation possible.

 

How incredibly infuriating it is to see a huge number of women discriminated against, belittled, abused and made victims of domestic violence by abusive male partners. Their complaints are frequently ignored by a male-dominated state system. The lock-downs and restrictions have given rise to even greater levels of violence against women in relationships, married or with live-in partners. Before the pandemic hit the Philippines, one in every four women suffered domestic violence and with the lock down it has risen by 16 percent.  An estimated  839,000 Filipina women have suffered a violent attack by an intimate partner in 2020.  

 

The pandemic lockdown has also endangered girls and children. An  increase in child sexual abuse has caused more serious concern in the national and international community of human rights defenders. The increase in online sexual streamed sex abuse shown with young women and children has hugely increased where the Internet service providers (ISPs) like PLDT/Smart and Globe Telecom failed to obey the law ((RA 9775) and install effective blocking software to hinder the spread of on-line child sex abuse. When  children are subject to child abuse, their future life as an empowered active educated woman is greatly impaired. Everyone has to work together to defend, protect and promote the rights and dignity of women and children.

The Empowerment of Women

The empowerment of women and girls is a most urgent need in today’s world where discrimination, violence and exploitation of women and girls, especially in the developing world, is tearing the heart out of society and family life causing human suffering, exclusion, sickness and death.

Education is the key to empowering women and girls and building equality in society by defeating the superior and dominant attitude of many men. Some wrongly believe they are entitled to treat women as inferior and unworthy of leadership roles in society, business and family.

At every level of social status, rich, middle class, poor, besides formal education, there has to be additional human rights training for boys and girls from the earliest age in human dignity and equality. Women have to be empowered economically by having skilled training and small business opportunities and thus take control over their lives. The economic power of women is essential for changing the inequality and the injustice in societies where women are treated unfairly and regulated to some lower status than males. Money talks and in community-based Grameen-loaning schemes, it is the women who are mostly given the loans. They are considered stronger, more reliable to pay back and wiser in using the loans and more caring of the needs of the children. Having money empowers the women and gives them status and respect in the community and in their families.

The education of boys and men in values to respect girls and women is vital. They must be taught that their own value and dignity as a human being and role in family and society is rooted in the respect for the dignity of females. The powerful machismo male, self-image that looks on females as objects of sexual gratification has to be replaced with one of respect, self-discipline and equal partnership, gender equality and complementary roles.

Without empowered, self-reliant and resilient women there is a greater danger of violence against women and children. The 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority says that one in every four Filipino women and children age 15-49 has experienced physical, emotional or sexual violence by their abusers or husband or partner. Female victims of child sexual abuse left untreated leaves the child traumatized, to grow up in fear of rape and sexual abuse. They can get help and fight back but some may be rendered fearful and submissive to the violence of the abusive male in later life. That is why intervention, protection, healing and empowerment therapy is so important. The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women says it is “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public and private life. Gender-based violence is any violence inflicted on women because of their sex.”

Domestic violence against women is predominantly linked to failed intimate relationships. In many cases, these are shallow and short-lived, most are based on sexual encounters and most are loveless relationships. The woman is treated, not as a loving friend and equal partner and respected mother of the children, but as an object of sexual gratification and a servant housekeeper and cook. The dominated woman is dependent on the man as the provider for her and the children. Many beaten women endure physical abuse because of fear and dependency.

The children in a family are greatly affected by the violent rages of the man against their mother. They, too, can grow up with the notion that violence is a normal part of relationships and be violent themselves. Children can suffer violent sexual assault by the mother’s partner. Sometimes the overpowered mother will allow the man to do it as a way to sexually satisfy him and calm his violent behavior against her. About 80 percent or 32 million children suffer from violence. Seven million of these children are between the ages of 10 to 18 and are sexually abused every year.Twenty percent or 1.4 million are under six years old.

Domestic violence is physical and sometimes psychological. Arguments and verbal abuse break out constantly, leading to a broken home and child abuse. One of many examples is the family of five-year old Vangie and eight-year old Maria (not real names). Their parents had severe disagreements and violence occurred. Their mother left the children with their paternal grandmother and the father. She found another partner. After only a few months, the two small girls were set upon by the biological father and he constantly sexually abused them and raped them both. They were rescued by the Preda Foundation senior staff and social worker and are recovering in the Preda home. He will stand trial. The children will testify.

Human trafficking is another form of violence against women. Young women and minors are “captured” by false promises, lured to fake employment and end up in brothels as sex slaves to powerful men. Many endure physical and psychological violence and “rough sex.” They are victims of “debt bondage” threatened by pimps and traffickers to pay their debts to them or they will be jailed.

That is the case of some of the 18 young girls, four of them minors, that were lured and pressured to join a party where they were to be sexually sold to foreign sex tourists in a hotel in Baloy Beach, Olongapo City, last November 2020. But the plan leaked, and they were all rescued by the National Bureau of Investigation and city social workers and Preda Foundation social workers. The minors are recovering at the Preda home. The adult women are being helped by the government social workers.

There has to be a major change in the culture of male abuse and violence against women and an end to the political tolerance that allows it. The rule of law must prevail, respect for the well-being of every woman and child has to be upheld and we are challenged to stand with them for their rights and dignity.

View New Life at Preda: Resilience and Hope at https://youtu.be/G0fFNmHSYic