|
By Nora O. Gamolo, OFW Times Editor
A militant migrant support group and a women’s
group are spearheading a joint mission to Okinawa to check on the
status of “Hazel,” a Filipina cultural worker raped by an
American serviceman on her third day of deployment in the island.
Migrante International, the Gabriela Women’s
Party-list (GWP), and Gabriela, a Philippine-based women’s
alliance, will also check on the situation of other overseas
Filipino workers (OFWs) whose real numbers are not well-documented
in the island.
These organizations are also inviting
legislators and other concerned parties to join them in checking on
situation of the Okinawa-based OFWs.
Okinawa is an island in southern Japan that
hosts a major US military base.
“Hazel” alleged in her complaint that she
was raped by an American serviceman, but this was reportedly
dismissed by a prosecutor on May 18. While her case cannot proceed
in court at the moment, she is being supported by an Okinawa-based
Filipino parish priest and his parishioners.
According to her mother Melly Atanque,
“Hazel” could no longer call them up through mobile phone
because she no longer receives support from the Department of
Foreign Affairs after her complaint was dismissed. Atanque is
calling on the Philippine government to support her daughter’s bid
for justice.
Besides “Hazel,” another Filipina OFW was
raped in Okinawa last year.
“Filipina migrants, especially those working
as entertainers in placed near US military bases, are in such
vulnerable circumstances. More often than not, their situation
invites and even allows sexual abuse,” said Cristina Palabay, GWP
secretary-general.
Besides these two documented Filipina rape
victims, Okinawa also witnessed in the past several rape incidents
committed against its own residents by American servicemen.
Militant migrant worker groups have criticized
the Arroyo administration for its failure to raise before the US
government the issue of the two rape incidents against the Filipina
OFWs. Mrs. Arroyo is still in the United States to date.
Many other women OFWs are victims of rape and
other human rights violations in many countries.
Less than a month ago, Jessa, another Filipina
OFW working as a domestic helper in Kuwait was gang-raped in front
of her employer. She claims to have signed a document, written in
Arabic, “under duress” and that Philippine embassy officials
were quiet about the rape charge that Ambassador Antonio Villamor
criticized for creating “misleading attitudes that harm our
bilateral relations.
|
