JEDDAH, 19 December — A Riyadh-based movement yesterday urged Philippine lawmakers to act on a proposed legislation that would institutionalize self-defense training for Filipino women.
The Mother Movement cited a number of reasons why the long-pending proposal should be taken into account urgently:
o Recent world data indicate that every six minutes, a woman is raped.
o Because of its high rape record, the Philippines is now considered the rape capital of Asia. This could be evident in the fact that of those in the Philippine death row, most have been convicted of the crime of rape. In 1999 alone, out of the more than 800 on death row, 550 were rapists.
o Of the estimated 7 million Filipinos seeking work abroad, 60 percent are women, many of whom return home either physically or emotionally brutalized, if not in coffins.
o Trafficking in women and children is now considered the third largest source of income for organized crime, after drugs and guns, that rakes in billions of dollars and victimizes over a million annually. Filipino women are considered to be among those vulnerable due to widespread poverty at home.
o Women are also the most vulnerable to attacks by drug addicts, robbers, snatchers and other criminal elements at home, as shown by official police records.
o With other factors such as the culture — e.g. women are submissive and non-assertive — women are considered physically weaker and are thus easy prey to abusive husbands.
Mother’s founding chair, Perla S. Vega, said the legislation the movement is pushing for seeks to prepare Filipino women in protecting themselves from the various risks they are exposed to.
In the Senate, Senators Loren Legarda had filed Senate Resolution No. 14 and Juan Flavier had refiled the bill that had not been acted upon in the previous congress. Flavier’s bill is now known as Senate Bill No. 123
The measure seeks to provide free compulsory self-defense training for school girls and female workers, with the Philippine National Police and allied agencies giving the training.
Vega explained that physical training, however, is just half of the concept of the Mother principle. The other component involves prevention, with women being educated on how to avoid sexual harassment and abuses.
She noted that in some cases, rape or harassment victims end up being blamed for wearing provocative dresses, or being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
"With an army of women who are mentally and physically alert, we can expect the incidence of sexual harassment and other abuses to be minimized," Vega said.
Founded two years ago, the Mother Movement has now expanded in many countries where there are Filipino women.
In Riyadh, the Mother Working Group, composed of 8 martial arts clubs in various disciplines — aikido, taekwondo, kuntaw, arnis, etc. — have successfully devised a style of self-defense.
Mrs. Vega said the group hopes to introduce the same at home through the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW) and other groups who may be interested.
President Gloria Arroyo has reportedly signified her support for the measure and has instructed the NCRFW to coordinate with the Mother Movement.