The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) kicked off the One Billion Rising campaign in the Philippines on 10 February 2020 to join the global dance of resistance to end violence against women, including transgender women and those with other gender expressions, suffering from gender-based violence.

Launched on Valentine’s Day 2012, the campaign began as a call to action based on the staggering statistics that 1 in 3 women will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. This sums to more than one billion women and girls out of the 7 billion world population.

Monique Wilson, the Global Campaign Director of the global mass action led the dance of resistance at the Liwasang Diokno inside the CHR Grounds in Quezon City. The film and theater actress explained that the event is only the start of a series of 2-month-long similar activities with a bigger annual dance highlight on the 14th of February.

Wilson stressed in her message that the campaign aims to tackle the roots of patriarchy and misogyny while employing art as a powerful and creative form of resistance.

“Leadership in many parts of the world contributes to misogyny. We are doing this to prevent violence against women from being normalized. Dance as an art is a powerful form of protest that connects the mind, body, and soul,” Ms. Wilson exhorted.

Some rights groups also joined the dance of resistance to call for action to violence against women as well as issues impacting women like education, housing, among others. These groups include the General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action (GABRIELA), Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY), and Save Our Schools Network.

For his part, Chairperson Chito Gascon expressed his fervent call to confront all forms of violence in all levels. He highlighted the value of speaking up amidst the challenges and cited the heroic example of Dr. Li Wenliang who spoke up about the corona virus but was silenced.

“We must always stand up versus all forms of violence. For as long as there is a single woman or girl subjected to violence, we should continue to stand up and push back. Let’s always support the women’s dance of resistance in the One Billion Rising movement,” he exclaimed.

Commissioner Karen Gomez Dumpit, the focal commissioner for gender, echoed the calls of women organizations versus many forms of violence.

“Let’s stand up for the rights of women and girl children everywhere. Stop the violence in all its forms including language, not speaking up when violence happens, and microaggressions against women. We should all unite in this cause,” she said.

KADAMAY, led by Ka Bea Arellano, expressed their gratitude to the Commission for standing with them and stressed the importance of solidarity among all those who experience various forms of abuse and violence.

Joining the One Billion Rising is joining the call to end all forms of violence – sexual, physical, racial, economic, political, socio-cultural, ideological and climate crisis violence. To learn more and to be involved, visit the campaign page at onebillionrising.org and Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pg/OneBillionRisingPhilippines. ###