EDITORIAL - Long way to go

President Arroyo signed a new law protecting women and children from domestic violence, while other candidates vowed to promote women’s welfare. The activities highlighted the nation’s observance of International Women’s Day yesterday.

There has been significant progress in women’s welfare in this country in the past decades. Women are in all levels and branches of government, and are increasingly found in male-dominated professions such as the military and police. Women are active in non-government organizations and other advocacy groups. Laws are being passed to promote women’s welfare.

Yet much remains to be done. The controversy over an advertisement of Destileria Limtuaco’s Napoleon Brandy is but one example of the challenges still faced by women in this country. The ad, which asks if you have tasted a 15-year-old, is supposed to refer to the brandy, and not to a nubile girl as Church and women’s groups see the not-too-subtle sales pitch. The local wording of the ad can only refer to a girl, not an alcoholic beverage. But as of yesterday, the brandy’s makers still refused to heed an order from the Advertising Board to pull out its ads. This is not surprising in a culture where there are still men who think the secret of eternal youth is raping their 15-year-old maid.

That ad should not have even gotten past the drawing board if gender sensitivity has become a way of life in this country. Yet it will probably take a few more congressmen locked up in prison for sex with adolescents, and several convictions of known personalities for sexual harassment and domestic violence before a sea change can occur among Filipino male chauvinists.

There are other problems. Millions of Filipino women still lack proper education, reproductive health care and livelihood opportunities. Forced to rely on men for their survival, these women grin and bear it when they are physically abused by their spouses, when their husbands take several mistresses, or even when they are abandoned by their husbands without hope of child support.

Even educated women are often embarrassed to admit that their husbands are beating them up or keeping mistresses. The embarrassment is not surprising in a society that thinks it’s cute to have ads splashed on giant billboards, urging men to taste a 15-year-old. There is cause for rejoicing on International Women’s Day, but the nation has a long way to go in promoting women’s welfare.