This International Women’s Day, the Commission on Human Rights, as Gender Ombud honors and celebrates the important work of women human rights defenders in communities in national and international spaces, and of women human rights advocates in government.
We celebrate the gains brought about women’s human rights and gender equality champions in passing key pieces of legislation enhancing protection for women and children. Last year, the work of advocates saw the passage of the law prohibiting child marriages, and this year, in time for international women’s day—the passage of another milestone—the law raising the age of sexual consent.
For many years, the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), as well as the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child have been recommending changes in the country’s laws on child marriage and on the age of sexual consent. For many years, women’s human rights advocates drafted, lobbied, consulted, and conducted various awareness raising activities in and out of congress to push for these legislative measures. It is only apt, that this International Women’s Day—we give credit where it is due—our women human rights defenders, our gender equality champions in Congress—most of them courageous and fearless women. The passage of Republic Act No. 11648, its amendment of our current rape and child abuse laws increasing the age of statutory rape, responds to a very persistent protection gap in our current legal framework. It responds to the reality that 7 out of 10 cases of rape happen to children, and mostly girl children; and that 1 out 5 children experience sexual violence. [1] It also responds to the reality that many victim survivors of rape, especially girl children, face a myriad of barriers in accessing justice—including cases of victim blaming, revictimization, rape myths and stereotypes. This law promises better protection by laying clear that having carnal knowledge of an individual under 16 years of age is rape, including those committed against children exploited in prostitution.
Aside from passage of key legislation, the Commission honors and celebrates women’s human rights defenders in communities, in national and international spaces. Women human rights defenders are in the forefront of the advocacy for women’s human rights, they are in the forefront in seeking accountability and in the fight against impunity. They surface gaps, call out government when women and girls issues are trivialized, dismissed or invisibilized. They ensure that women and girls’ agenda, especially that of the most marginalized are presented, amplified, and addressed. They refuse to be silenced and speak out amidst abuse, even with the risk of incarceration, of retribution, and continued threats.
It is through the work and struggle of women’s human rights defenders that women’s rights progressed. Starting from way back in 1908 when women called for shorter hours of work, right to vote thereby planting the seeds for the first International Women’s Day, to our current gains—treaties protecting women from all forms of discrimination, laws protecting women and girls, and continuing struggle for equality, social justice.
Beyond honouring and recognizing our women’s human rights defenders for their work in and out of Congress—we also call for the respect and protection of their rights. We continue to express our alarm regarding the continuing attacks against women human rights defenders, the threat to their security, the persistence of misogyny, and even instances of incarceration as in the case of Senator Leila de Lima, Dr Naty Castro, and Sally Ujano. To truly honor women’s day, let us stand in solidarity, let us work side by side, let us defend and support the work of women human rights defenders.
[1] UNICEF. National Baseline Study on Violence Against Children in the Philippines. https://www.unicef.org/philippines/reports/national-baseline-study-violence-against-children-philippines