|
Jakarta: Belated Happy Women’s Day to all women and honorary
women! Here in Jakarta, women leaders from all over Asean gathered
on March 11 and 12 at the “Regional Conference on Advancing Gender
Equality and Women’s Rights in Muslim Societies.” Hosted by our
Indonesian partner, the International Center for Islam and Pluralism
(ICIP), the conference was supported by the United Nations
Development Fund for Women (Unifem) and the Canadian International
Development Agency. More power to them! ICIP founder Syafi’i Anwar,
a champion of pluralism, showed no signs of slowing down—even
after the severe beating he had received last year when a violent
group broke up their peaceful demonstration supporting respect and
acceptance of all faiths.
Identity politics and religious politics were
some of the issues deliberated on at the conference. One of the
panelists, Farish Nooh, spoke of his misgivings about
“multiculturalism” when it is used to couch what he calls
“religious politics,” which is gaining strength globally.
Unfortunately, many religious groups hide their politics or
political identity behind the banner of faith. These groups would
use multiculturalism to justify advancing their agenda or control,
at the expense of another group. For instance, Farish noted, groups
tend to view women as the receptacle or the guardian of culture.
Thus, restrictions—rightly or wrongly—are placed on women by
zealous leaders (mostly male) on such matters as what women can
wear. While Hindu women must wear the sari, it is ok for Hindu men
to wear suits. While Muslim women have to veil with only face and
hands showing, Muslim men can wear short pants. Thus, women’s
rights are often times sacrificed to make the world appreciate how
closely the community adheres their faith or culture.
The conference focused attention on the
implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw) in the Region. To achieve
gender equality, Cedaw defines the political, civil, economic and
social rights for women and the measures required for the
elimination of discrimination against women.
The 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights
re-emphasized that women’s rights are human rights. Around the
world, alliances have been forged on human rights, gender and
religion. We saw how the international community banded together to
support the rights of Afghan women who were abused under the
Taliban. The crescendo of outrage led to international support for
the US move to invade Afghanistan to oust the Taliban.
Muslim women in the Philippines have not
suffered as the Afghan women have. Asean women view the Philippines
as a source of strength for women’s rights. After all, we have had
two women presidents. Further, the Philippine Constitution is known
for its very liberal and progressive provision that was formulated
during the euphoria of People Power Revolution in 1986. Gender
equality is a key element of this Charter and as enshrined in
Article II Section 14 of the 1987 Constitution, “the State
recognizes the role of women in nation-building and shall ensure the
fundamental equality before the law of women and men.” Considering
the unequal gender relations in the country, the Constitution
further provided for women representation in the legislature through
the party-list system.
This legal framework promoting gender equality
is in turn elaborated in various enabling legislations and these
include the following: 1. Local Government Code of 1991 provides for
the election of sectoral representation, including women, in local
legislative councils; 2. Party List Law provides for the creation of
women-oriented or women-based parties to compete under the
party-list system (women’s sector is one of the 9 sectors
identified in the law); Women in Nation Building Law (R.A. 7192)
promotes the integration of women as full and equal partners of men
in development and nation building, encourages the full
participation and involvement of women in the development process,
removes gender bias in all government regulations and procedures,
and mandates government resources be provide for women’s programs.
Further, it opened the doors of the Philippine Military Academy to
women.
It is interesting to point out that the first
and only Muslim woman elected to the Philippine Senate, Sen.
Santanina Rasul, authored 1 and 3 above. She also authored the law
making March 8, Women’s Day, a working holiday in the country.
(Continued)
aminarasul@yahoo.com
|
