TODAY is International Women’s Day. Its theme is #BalanceforBetter – a call-to-action for driving gender balance. What can we do to help forge a more gender-balanced world? Yes, women have come a long way but there is still a lot to be done.
Because this is an election season, it is fitting to ask candidates and elected officials about their stand on various women’s issues such as gender discrimination, domestic violence and human trafficking. But really, elections or not, public officials must inform the public about their stand on various serious women’s issues.
As women are men’s coequal partners in nation-building, public officials and those wanting to enter public (government) service must be ready to state their positions on women’s issues. On the other hand, because this is an election season, candidates should make known the courses of action they intend to take to address women’s issues if elected into office.
We have a few suggestions. They should push for the welfare of women through livelihood and skills programs. Many women are only partially or are contractually employed. This, however, is a much bigger concern because the contractualization of the country’s labor force affects both men and women.
On domestic violence, Republic Act 9262, otherwise known as the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act, penalizes not only physical form of violence against the weaker sex and children, but also emotional, psychological abuse and deprivation of economic support. All women seeking state assistance in order to get out of abusive relationships should not be given the cold-shoulder treatment by law enforcement offices. Elected officials must be committed to enforce this law.
Needless to say, all public officials are tasked to promote social equality for women in the areas of equal job opportunities, their protection from abuse in the workplace and at home, as well as the provision of ample health care for them.
A social critic said the degree of women’s emancipation is the natural measure of the general emancipation of society. Clearly, we still we have a long way to go.
