Saturday, August 19, 2006
Contemporary Issues
I recently attended the annual Pistahan Festival in San Francisco with a friend, and for lack of a better description, it was a grand old time. Neither the presence of Black Eyed Peas member apl.de.ap nor the showing of the "Bebot" videos highlighted my trip to Frisco for this festival. Rather, it was a magazine I picked up from the SF-based Filipina Women's Network (FWN) booth. The magazine itself is called V Diaries and it is published and distributed by the FWN. The FWN is also responsible for putting on productions of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues to honor the work of those dedicated to ending violence against Filipina Women and girls. The FWN is also supporting this woman known as "Nicole" - the rape victim filing charges against 4 United States Marines participating in the Visiting Forces Agreement, a military agreement between the U.S. and Philippines (known to many as the Subic Bay rape case).
The FWN, along with the Gabriela Network and The Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service (TOWNS), are rallying together in "Justice for Nicole." On Nov. 1st, 2005, "Nicole" met the 4 marines at the Neptune Club, a karaoke bar located in the Subic Bay Freeport in Olangapo City, Philippines. Nicole and friends went there to "enjoy" themselves and one of the men grabbed her to dance with him when she was dancing with one of her other friends. Nicole drank that night and remembers being on the dance floor, but then remembers being dragged out of the club and taken into a van where the marine she was last dancing with, Daniel Smith, was on top of her, kissing her. She says she tried to push him off, and screamed but was unsuccessful. When she woke up, she was confused as to what happened and found herself on the ground, with her pants put on backwards. An eyewitness states that she saw the men unloading her "like a pig."
"...rape victims are being victimized all over again each time their doubts are cast against their character. 'She was in a bar. She was drunk. She was dancing. She was out late at night. These are some of the accusations against Nicole and why she should be accountable to what happened to her. These are not the point. The point is nobody has the right to rape you." (Taken from the Manila Bulletin)
Being recently self-introduced to the FWN, and the more I read up on the Subic Bay case, I get a little more angered at the fact that this has been going on too long but that much more empowered to do something. I'm also frustrated at the arguments against Nicole, talk about social construction, foreal. Drinking, dancing and being out late at night all at once are NOT invitations for males to pursue power over females. It's hard, but it feels to be a woman. Why is it that it's socially accepted for women to not do many things, but be certain things? A fellow Pinay once made me think of it like this: Would you rape your sister? What would you do if your sister had been raped?
Just to tie everything together, the "Justice for Nicole" fund was one of the FWN's beneficiaries in their New York staging of the Vagina Monologues this past June.
Another reason why I feel like I needed step into this blog space was so that perhaps other women could hear their own voice in mine. Also, I just wanted to shed more light on women's lives and issues. There's a difference between quiet and silent. And I know the latter all too well.
A drought in China leaves 10 million people thirsty and an oil spill in the Philippines has caused many villagers to leave, move or be exposed to dangerous chemicals.
Peace and love,
x_magsalita.
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