What could one expect from a misogynistic head of state who has repeatedly made sexist remarks and has admitted to being a molester in his teenage years?
Certainly not the protection of women. And certainly not during a raging pandemic.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, one in four women aged 15-49 have experienced emotional, physical, or sexual abuse. This amounts to a total of 4,750,000. To make matters worse, this alarming number does not even fully capture the gravity of the situation as it only takes into account cases involving abuse by partners and husbands.
Even with the Magna Carta for Women and the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004 already in place, sex trafficking, sexual harassment, rape and gender-based violence remain pervasive. The government has continued to play blind and made no significant effort to curb the high incidence rate of such cases. After all, taking action on this important issue goes against the filthy tendencies of the man who, after spending his time in Malacañang being an absolute farce, still dares to call himself president.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the Duterte administration’s pathetic excuse of a response only aggravated the already horrendous situation. As the country remains under prolonged lockdowns that were initially preventable, victims are forced to stay at home with their abusers and be subjected to even more abuse.
With the shutting down of schools, student-victims who found safety in in-campus living are forced to return to their aggressors. Women have also become more susceptible to harassment on online platforms. Economic insecurity forces parents and children into taking drastic measures, often sexual in nature, in order to stay afloat.
The United Nations Population Fund approximated that by the end of 2020, at least 839,000 women would have experienced gender-based violence during the course of the pandemic. Now that we are well into 2021, it is a horror to imagine just how much this number has increased.
Even so, the Duterte administration remains impassive on the matter. In a healthcare crisis where such a threat to safety is exacerbated, its priorities are awfully misplaced.
Much could have been done in order to protect victims against gender-based violence. Funds should have been funneled into social services that offer protection against gender-based violence. The more effective implementation of the Women and Children Protection Program could have also prevented more cases of abuse.
Instead, the state busied itself with attacking its own people. The president himself perpetuated abuse with his nasty sexist remarks. The police force, his ever loyal pack of dogs, pounce on innocent civilians — especially those who express dissent. And taking the Filipino people for fools, the administration attempted to divert attention by “beautifying” Manila Bay with dolomite, squandering valuable funds that could have gone into the mitigation of Covid-19.
The pandemic must be the primary concern for the country’s officials, but what excuse do they have when the pandemic response, into which most efforts are supposedly going, is failing miserably? What right have they to turn their backs on victims when it is their criminal negligence that put them in horrible conditions?
With an inefficient vaccination program coupled with the recent detection of the lambda variant, the end to the pandemic is still nowhere in sight. In the same vein, the end to gender-based violence in the Philippines remains far from reach. At this rate, more victims will have to bear the consequences of the administration’s shortcomings.
As long as a misogynist without regard for the health and wellbeing of his people such as Duterte sits in Malacañang, the Filipino, especially the Filipino woman, is not guaranteed even the most basic human rights.
Who could forget him saying that he should have been the first to rape Jacqueline Hamill? What decent man makes such a sickeningly perverted comment about a woman who was held hostage, raped and murdered? Well, making vile comments must be nothing for someone who has openly admitted to sexually assaulting a housemaid himself. In a speech in 2018, he recalled a confession he made to a priest. “I lifted the blanket… I tried to touch what was inside the panty,” he said.
The fight to end violence against women is a tough one. The strong-arm of patriarchy tips the scales against women and makes them targets of abuse simply for being women. And a misogynistic president does nothing to help the situation.
But make no mistake, women will not stand down. The Gabriela Women’s Party notably advocates for women’s rights and strongly decries its violation. Women everywhere are unlearning the supposedly inferior role that has been forced into them by history and the system. They are, and will always be, fighting.
In the 2022 elections, we can stand with women in their struggle against gender-based violence. The Filipino people deserve far better than another misogynistic, incompetent, and mass-murdering dictator. And we can and mustprevent one from rising to power. We know too well what we will have to endure if it happens again.
Featured image courtesy of Philstar.com.
