Gender equity for Filipinas

WHY is the Catholic Church so vehemently opposed to women’s rights even today in the 21^st century? The Church believes that women’s rights or gender equity are contradictory to the preaching of the Bible. Scripture teaches that God created women for the sole purpose of pleasure, subordination and submission to the will of men.

 

To understand why the Church believes women are inferior to men, one has to go back to its history in the Philippines. Filipina women have achieved considerable gender equity in many fields as compared to their counterparts in other third world countries. In fact, the Philippines is among the top 10 countries in terms of gender equity, according to the Social Institutions and Gender Index.

The Philippines’ transition from a society where the man stood dominant to one where women are deemed nearly equal today (except in reproductive rights) has not been easy. The advancements of Filipino women in spite of the Church’s denial to her human rights are a credit to her incredible and remarkable tenacity, perseverance and determination.

However, as encouraging as these advancements are, there is still much work to be done to further promote gender equality as regard to reproductive rights of women. Until Filipinas achieve their reproductive health rights, gender equity in any other area is not only irrelevant, it is also meaningless. 

The phrase "women’s reproductive rights" refers to true Gender Equity and Equality in health rights for women. It recognizes that gender has a significant influence on women’s health, the impact of which is experienced in different ways. Gender equity approaches recognize that we do not function on a level playing field. In other words, there are historical and social disadvantages that prevent women from benefiting fully from society’s resources.

There are continuing traditions of stereotypes and misconceptions of what it means to be a woman. From the day she is born, her lower status becomes her fate. She is subjected to discriminatory practices that result in the systemic devaluation of attitudes, activities and abilities ascribed to women. This approach also acknowledges that addressing the impacts of gender on health will often require different strategies for women and for men, and that these will be influenced by a range of social and cultural factors.

Over the past two decades, researchers and health workers have increasingly focused on developing a view of health that includes the social factors that influence health. This has followed the many international activities concerned with improving global health status largely driven by the World Health Organization.

Taking a social view of health has broadened our understanding of the determinants of health. Gender has come to be understood as having a significant impact on health along with other social factors such as income, housing and employment.

The last decade has seen a growing debate about the links between gender and health in the Philippines. On one hand, women have been campaigning under a human rights banner for their needs to be taken more seriously in health planning. At an international level, these arguments were reinforced in the Platforms for Action developed at the UN conferences in Cairo in 1994 and Beijing in 1995.

On the other hand, there has been a growing consensus on the broader economic and social gains to be made from promoting women’s health. The World Bank in particular has argued for investment in women’s health as a rational use of resources especially in the poorest communities such as the Philippines (WB 1993 and 1995).

In response to these pressures from international organizations, the Aquino government prepared gender action plans that include health related objectives. These have focused mainly on reproductive issues but there is a growing acceptance of the need to integrate gender concerns into all aspects of health care.

This is in line with the Beijing Platform which recommended “an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective in all policies and programs.” These resources will include high quality and appropriate medical care for both men and women.

They will also include the range of social, economic and cultural goods that individuals need to promote their own wellbeing. Many of these resources will be common to both women and men. However, there are also significant differences between the two groups in their health needs and in their access to the relevant resources. These differences will need to be identified and acted upon if health policies are to be equitable.

(Issue of Oct. 17-23, 2011)