PAGBABAGO
Dr. Florangel Rosario Braid
Today, Filipino women and their sisters from all over the world who participated at the 4th UN global women’s conference in Beijing will meet again (our Philippine group through Zoom), this time to exchange experiences on what happened to the Declaration and Platform for action which resulted from deliberations 25 years ago.
UN Women Executive Director Phumzele Mlambo-Ngacka who cited the UN secretary-general’s call for “peace at home” noted that 146 countries had responded positively. The platform on 12 critical areas imagined a world in which every woman and girl could exercise her freedoms and realize her rights – freedom from violence, attend school, participate in decisions, and earn equal pay for equal work.
But sadly, today, no country is even close to fully delivering on the commitments.
The monitoring has shown that COVID-19 has exacerbated pre-existing inequalities and threatens to halt or reverse the gains of decades of collective effort. This was revealed in data which noted that the pandemic would push 47 million more women and girls below the poverty line.
By next year, 435 million women and girls would likely be reduced to extreme poverty. “Transformative approaches and new alliances that engage the private sector together with governments and civil society will be needed, according to the UN executive director.
Several studies by, among others, Inter-Agency Rapid Gender Assessment by Care, Plan International, Australian Aid, business organizations, and local women’s organizations have shown these negative consequences during the long lockdown period which resulted in physical distancing and restraints in movements of people and goods, financial insecurity caused by shortened work periods, pay cuts, or total loss of income due to shut-down of factories and work places, factors which contributed to domestic violence. There was a high risk of infection among women frontliners – nurses and caregivers and those working in health and human services.
The studies further showed that the women were more worried about job insecurity that came with COVID-19 than the virus itself. It created stress and anxiety for girls in school who worried about slim chances of returning to school. The rise in sexual harassment and online exploitation and cyberbullying was also noted.
COVID-19 showed the effects of the wide social and income disparities such as the lack of access to safe reporting grievance and justice resources for victims of sexual violence and platforms where they can contribute to decision-making. It was shown that girls and young women are active receivers and sharers of information about COVID-19.
All the above had contributed to the poor performance in satisfying the recommendations made in the Beijing Declaration. Access to education and training, health care, resources for productive activities was limited. Still, inequality in sharing of power between men and women, insufficient mechanisms for promoting advancement of women and protecting their human rights, inadequate access to media and communication resources, gender inequalities in the management of natural resources and the environment, and persistent discrimination against the girl-child continue to exist.
A pre-COVID-19 study by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung on feminism and the women’s movement cited numerous gains by women in economic, political, and social equality. However, things must be done in promoting equality in political representation and economic opportunities and addressing aggression and violence brought about by patriarchy, it noted. Lesbians, bisexual, and transwomen still grapple for acceptance. It cited vulnerability of women in the workplace. The persistence of sexist remarks and jokes about rape made by our top government officials has not helped in ensuring a gender-fair environment for our women who deserve to be treated with more dignity.
It would be interesting to hear stories from our “Beijing+25” alumni in today’s Zoom meeting. At the end of the UN call for action, called “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!,” from November 25, which marked the global commemoration of “Eliminating Violence against Women” campaign up to December 10, UN Human Rights Day, we pause, reflect, and remember how we can address one of the greatest challenges of our decade – the spike in domestic violence at a time when services, including the rule of law, health, and shelters, are being diverted to address the pandemic.
My email, [email protected]