Vice President Leni Robredo. AP FILE PHOTO
Vice President Leni Robredo has called for the need to educate women worldwide on their rights against abuse, “especially emerging ones like second-generational bias and harassment on social media.”
Robredo gave the keynote speech at a women’s forum held in Cape Town, South Africa.
Robredo and her fellow Liberal Party members, who were invited by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for what was billed as a “study tour” organized by the FNF, arrived in Manila on Wednesday night.
The Vice President said that while they have made great strides in taking on leadership roles—whether in government, in the private sector, and at home—women are also facing “emerging difficulties.”
“The rise of social media has made women easy targets, especially those that hold leadership positions—from media to government. Where physical security only require good locksmiths and prudence in one’s schedule or the places where we can be seen, finding sanctuaries against misogyny, harassment, alternative facts and crass language on social media is a lot more complicated,” said Robredo, who is a victim herself of continued cyberbullying.
At the gathering billed as “Liberal Forum on Women in Leadership Roles,” Robredo emphasized that “barriers” that keep women from claiming leadership roles remain “tightly interwoven with cultural, social and economic difficulties.”
She made a brief reference, without naming names, to her experience where President Duterte admitted ogling at her knees at a Cabinet meeting one time she wore a skirt.
“Violence or misogynistic remarks against women are still considered the fault of the woman if her knees show when she sits. I don’t know if many of the women here in this room have experienced this, but don’t people have opinions all the time about your clothes and whether you are gaining weight or not? By contrast, have you heard anyone talk about men’s outfits?” she said.