NOW is the start of the Butterflies. Globally, people commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (IDEVAW), which has started as a tribute for the three mariposas or butterflies – the Mirabal sisters – who were murdered on Nov. 25, 1960 during the time of the Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo.
Today, in the Philippines, we also start sensing the Butterflies. The butterflies symbolize freedom, endurance, change, hope, and life. They especially signify women’s assertion to fight for social justice and oppose tyrannical rule, since the murder of the three Mirabal sisters.
We, at the Center for Women’s Resources (CWR), feel the Butterflies together with all women today as we observe the IDEVAW and mark the commencement of the Philippines’ 18-day campaign to end violence against women.
We understand the need for collective action in calling for social justice, freedom, and change for a better life for all. As it is, millions of Filipino women who are mostly from the marginalized sectors continue to suffer from various forms of violence and remain deprived of proper redress.
Despite more than 37 laws and policies on protection and promotion on women’s rights, violence against women (VAW) remains prevalent in the country. Based on the most recent monitoring sheet of the Philippine National Police (PNP) available, a woman is raped every 72 minutes in the country; while one in four women experience domestic violence by husband or partner, according to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
State-perpetrated violence has also become pervasive. About 59 cops have been reportedly involved in abuses against women from July 2016 to December 2018. Misogyny and sexism have become the norm among government officials.
Worse, women human rights defenders who fearlessly assert their rights and express their dissent against the Duterte government’s abusive schemes were confronted with unabated attacks. Activists and rights defenders were arrested and slapped with trumped-up charges. As of June 2019, human rights groups have documented 545 political prisoners in the country, 285 of whom were arrested under the Duterte government. More than 60 of them are women while more than 150 are sickly and elderly.
This is the reason, today, we again sense the Butterflies. So long as the state tries to quash the democratic rights of the people, especially of the marginalized women, we will always do what the Mirabal sisters had done 59 years ago: stand with women who have been subjected to attacks by this violent government.
In amidst threats, we call on all women and all Filipinos who struggle with women to resist violence and defend Filipino women. Today is, again, the time of the Butterflies. – CENTER FOR WOMEN’S RESOURCES <media@centerforwomensresources.org>
