Gabriela: Direct anger at Duterte joke toward fighting impunity

Women’s rights group Gabriela has asked the public to go beyond condemnation of the controversial statements made by leading presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on the rape slay of Australian lay missionary Jacqueline Hamill.

Gabriela instead asked Filipinos to unite in fighting the prevailing culture of impunity which allowed perpetrators of sexual violence to go scot-free.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Gabriela admitted that Duterte’s statement reeked of “insensitivity and machismo.”

“His statements are a clear manifestation of the culture of machismo that perpetuates violence against women,” the group said.

For the group, it is high time to elevate the discourse and direct the outrage toward the culture of impunity which is “responsible for the discrimination suffered by women and [pushes] them to further vulnerability to different form of sexual abuses.”

“It is this impunity that is responsible for the promotion and tolerance to rape culture,” the statement read.

Citing government data, Gabriela said rape cases increased by 92 percent, domestic violence by 219 percent and sexual harassment by 136 percent. The group also said more than a hundred women victims of violence involving police and military elements had sought their help from 2010 to 2015.

The group then made a scathing attack against President Benigno Aquino III, saying he was the one ultimately responsible for the prevailing culture of impunity.

Gabriela earlier condemned Duterte for his statements, saying rape was a serious crime that should not be joked about.

“Rape, or any form of sexual abuse is not a joke, or something to be trivialized in a joke, especially by a public official and most especially by those aspiring for the highest post in the land,” Gabriela national vice chair Gert Libang said.

It has also asked Duterte to apologize, but the mayor has not expressed regret for his act. On Tuesday, Duterte discredited a statement from his party PDP-Laban which supposedly said that he had apologized for what he did. RC