A report from Equality Now, a nonprofit organization based in New York City was distributed and discussed during a global non-governmental organization (NGO) conference on women held on Feb. 27 at Barnard College in New York City. It criticized the Philippine government, along with 45 other governments around the world, for discriminating against women in violation of their commitment made in the Beijing Platform for Action.
In particular, the report is asking the Philippine government to revise its penal code on how it would criminalize prostitution. The revised Philippine Penal Code, Article 202, on penalties on vagrants and prostitutes, defines prostitutes as women who, for money or profit, habitually indulge in sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct.
According to the report, this definition is discriminatory on women as it criminalizes only
prostitutes, the majority of whom are women, and not those who buy sex from prostitutes, who are virtually all men.
According to the report, there are several bills pending in the Philippine congress that would modify Article 202 of the Penal Code, redefining "prostitute" to include any person, not just women. House Bill 471, pending with the House of Representatives' Committee on Justice, would, as currently drafted, repeal Article 202, decriminalize prostitutes and penalize the consumer.
The report consequently urges the Philippine government to adopt House Bill 471 or otherwise amend Article 202 of the Penal Code so that consumers of prostitution and not the prostitutes themselves are criminalized.
The report then urges all participants at all NGO conferences on women to keep up the pressure on Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, by sending her e-mails, letters and faxes.
Patricia Licuanan, director of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, was among those women activists who participated in the conference to commemorate 30 years since the first UN Women's conference was held in Mexico City, and 10 years since the Beijing Platform for Action for Women was adopted by UN member states.
In a panel held at Barnard College, Licuanan, a former president of the Ateneo de Manila University, reported on the achievements, gaps and challenges facing women in Asia and the Pacific region. Like other women panelists from Africa, Europe and Latin America, Licuanan said that women from the region still face "difficult challenges in their struggle towards empowerment and advancement of their human rights."
Licuanan reminded the audience that the Beijing Conference looked forward to going from words to actions to commitment and, finally, to a new world order of equality. She cited some gains in the time since then, but defined an emerging backlash as economic forces have eroded women's rights and restricted policies.
Other Filipino women participants at the global conference that lasted until March 10, mostly at various sites in United Nations buildings, included: Dr. Amelita Dayrit-Go, vice president of the World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations; Edna Aquino of Amnesty International (U.K. branch); Med Manzanal of the Youth Coalition; Aileen Familiar of ISIS, Manila; and Sonia Soto, national chairperson of Kaisa Ka! communities, schools and local government units.
