Bangon Babae! End Violence Against Women Through System Change!
11/25/24
On this year’s International Day to End Violence Against Women (November 25), GABRIELA USA has recommitted ourselves to the cause of ending VAW by fighting for national democracy in the Philippines! While we take up our campaigns fighting for the rights, needs and demands of Filipino women here in the U.S., we recognize that the root causes of Filipino women’s suffering are none other than the three basic problems of U.S. imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism.
Filipino women in the U.S., especially migrant Filipino women, are subject to dangerous or unfair working conditions, harassment & intimidation from employers, state violence (especially for undocumented migrants), racist violence and gender-based violence. This will likely only heighten under Trump’s presidency, who has committed to mass deportations, rolling back workplace protections and promoting an anti-women culture. In every instance, women are failed by the existing system, whether it be in the Philippines or the U.S., to hold their perpetrators accountable and to achieve true justice.
Likewise in the Philippines, Filipino women are subject to severe neglect by the PH government. Peasant women struggle to provide for their families, are subject to surveillance, hamletting, false arrests and even rape and killings by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and are forced off their land in favor of multinational corporations.
From the murder of Jennifer Laude by a U.S. Marine or the recent murder of Filipina nurse Melissa Jubane in Beaverton, Oregon, to the many women and others victimized by Apollo Quiboloy and his sex trafficking schemes, GABRIELA USA will always be on the side of these women and their loved ones fighting for justice! No system under imperialist rule will ever genuinely address women’s concerns such as safety, health, and an economy that protects and serves the people.
Women deserve a society that does not force them to choose between a meal and transportation fare, a society that would not force them to make the impossible choice of being present in their children’s lives or migrating to another country to financially support their kids; a society where they do not have to fear for their lives on their way to and from work; a society that prioritizes women and children’s health and safety over ongoing U.S. militarization and war.
That is why this IDEVAW, we call on all Filipino women to rise up and fight for your demands to end VAW, to unite together and defend our communities from potential increased attacks under a Trump presidency and the ongoing attacks by the U.S.-Marcos II Regime, and to fight for national democracy in the Philippines so that women and all other members of society may be free from the ills of U.S. imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism.