Since 2012, Valentine’s Day has been dedicated not only to lovers but also to a global campaign to end violence against women and promote gender equality. The United Nations estimates that one in three women around the world will be raped or beaten in her lifetime. That’s a staggering one billion people subjected to physical and sexual abuse.
People in more than 190 countries staged mass actions on Valentine’s Day 2012, launching One Billion Rising to campaign for an end to violence against women. For the past two years on Valentine’s Day, similar mass actions have been staged, as reports of violence against women continue to be reported around the globe.
The Philippines has tough laws against domestic violence and gender discrimination, and Filipino women are among the most empowered in the world. With the Supreme Court upholding the main provisions of the Responsible Parenthood Law, the government is now free to promote reproductive health, which is a woman’s right. Even Pope Francis weighed in as he flew out of the Philippines last month, pushing for responsible parenthood and memorably cautioning the faithful about “breeding like rabbits.”
As in many of the country’s laws, unfortunately, tough laws to promote women’s welfare are weakly enforced. Many women, unaware of their rights and the protection guaranteed by law against various forms of abuses, continue to be battered by their husbands or partners. Impoverished young girls are physically and sexually abused and forced into prostitution.
With the tagline “drum, dance and rise,” organizers of this year’s One Billion Rising event chose the theme “revolution” – describing it as “an energy, a platform, a global movement, a catalyst, a worldwide decision to end violence against women, a demand for justice, a paradigm shift, an invitation, a gathering of the ready, housed everywhere, housed in our hearts, you, us.”
Various One Billion Rising dances and other events started last Friday and will continue this Valentine’s weekend around the globe. The events will not put an abrupt end to the abuses suffered by millions of women and girls, but awareness of the problem is a good start.