09/03/2026
Abante, Babae: End All Abuses Against Women!
Women struggle against a vast array of sociopolitical and economic issues across domestic, local, and international levels. They are victims of direct and indirect violence committed by powerful men under a ruling patriarchal system.
In the Philippines, such violence is emboldened by machismo politics and patriarchy. During his Presidency, Rodrigo Duterte normalized the s*xualization and harassment of women as he joked and downplayed r**e as a moral and criminal offense. This behavior is intensified by other male public and political figures who perpetuate the s*xualization of women to this day. Prime examples of this being Congressman B**g Suntayโs recent remarks objectifying a Philippine actor in the middle of a public hearing; Atty. Ferdinand Topacioโs remarks that desiring to s*xually assault a woman is acceptable; and Senator Jinggoy Estradaโs inappropriate question and jokes involving a foreign woman during a hearing of the Senate committee on justice.
There are also issues in the Philippines of child, early, and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU), which violate girlsโ rights to access reproductive health services. Lastly, women and children are vulnerable to s*x trafficking, including in digital spaces.
In the global landscape, the disclosure of the Epstein files in recent weeks highlighted s*xual violence committed by international leaders and the elite not exclusively upon women, but even more so towards girls โ children whose innocence was ripped away because the uber wealthy operate with impunity and freedom to abuse anyone.
Such s*xual violence, however, is not committed solely by the elite. It is present in the common household, in campuses, and in workplaces. Whole industries have been formed around the exploitation of women's bodies. OnlyFans, a digital platform known primarily for users selling s*xually explicit content, hires women as virtual assistants for altering usersโ images and thus exploits women's labor to perpetuate this system of s*xualizing womenโs bodies. Other technological platforms are also prone to s*xual exploitation. The rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has seen environmental destruction, the proliferation of misinformation, and the generation of s*xual deepfakes, images, audio, or videos of women and children.
Women have been victims of wars, genocides, and attacks against entire nations. In the United States, Venezuela, Cuba, Sudan, Palestine, and recently in Iran, women โ including migrant workers โ are victims of direct violences, such as bombings, shootings, and attacks. Just mere days ago, the United States and Israel bombed an all-girls school in Minab, south of Iran. 165 were killed, while 95 were injured. Most of the victims were children. Mary Ann Velasquez De Vera, a Filipina caregiver in Israel, was killed by shrapnel scattered by an Iranian missile strike.
Now, more than ever, it is critical that women of the world and their allies must unify and hold the elite and the patriarchs in power accountable for all forms of violence committed against women. Entire industries have been designed to endanger, assault, s*xualize and abuse women and children, therefore the response that women of the world must advance is one of systems change - built upon a foundation of collective action.
The Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa - Women (SENTRO Women) joins local and global feminist and social movements to demand:
- That all who perpetuate direct and indirect violence against both women and children, including in the digital landscape, are held accountable, with the worst offenders be imprisoned;
- That the ASEAN, especially the host Philippines, recognize and address violence against migrant women in the region, including violence committed through digital media; and
- The liberation of imprisoned womenโs rights defenders, including Sally Ujano.
Attacks against one woman is an attack against all women of the world. SENTRO Women, in continuing global movements for womenโs liberation and empowerment, will persevere and fight on until the abusers, the exploiters, and the harassers will be held into account and punished for their crimes. While systems change may be years away, all women of the world will organize despite this and will be steadfast towards justice and liberation. # # #
