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Gabriela Women's Party

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GABRIELA Women's Party
LeaderLiza Maza
SpokespersonLuzviminda Ilagan
Founded1984, 2003 (as partylist)
HeadquartersQuezon City
IdeologySocialist feminism
Marxist feminism
Political positionLeft-wing
National affiliationBayan
Makabayan
International affiliationInternational League of Peoples' Struggle
ColorsPurple, White
Sloganbabae, bata, balut, bayan... tuloy ang laban! (Women, children, (and the) nation... the fight continues!)
Seats in the House of Representatives of the Philippines
1 / 304
House of Representatives party-list seats
1 / 61
Website
www.gabrielawomensparty.net

The General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action (GABRIELA)[1] is a leftist Filipino organization that advocates for women's issues.

It is a nationwide network of grassroots organizations, institutions, and programs that address issues such as human rights, poverty, globalization, militarism, violence, rape culture, health, sex trafficking, censorship[2] and other issues affecting women. There are regional chapters in Metro Manila, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Mindanao; sub-regional chapters in Negros, Panay and Samar, and provincial chapters in Bicol and Cebu. GABRIELA is one of many coalitions within the Philippines and their priority includes many women from different sectors and focuses on the education and team building of the women in order to advocate for the many issues they are facing.[3]

History

GABRIELA was founded in April 1984 after 10,000 women marched in Manila, defying a Marcos decree against demonstrations.[4] Amidst a backdrop of widespread social inequality and unrest, GABRIELA aimed to synthesize issues of national liberation, poverty and women's emancipation. The organization's founders pushed for comprehensive social transformation, rather than focusing on individual forms of oppression. This came to be known as Third World feminism.[5] The NGO was named in honor of Gabriela Silang, a revolutionary Filipina, who led a revolt against Spain in the second half of the eighteenth century. The death of her husband was the reason she took over his role as the anti-colonialist leader.[6] GABRIELA has been a monumental party for Filipino women because they challenge a lot of the patriarchal views placed on them, alongside resisting foreign influence and neocolonialism.[7]

Electoral performance

In 2003, the party-list 'Gabriela Women's Party' was launched by GABRIELA.[4] In the 2004 elections for the House of Representatives the party-list got 464,586 votes (3.6518% of the nationwide vote and one seat; Liza Maza)[8][9] In the 14 May 2007 election, the party won 2 seats in the nationwide party-list vote. The Gabriela Women's Party was the only women's party that was able to obtain a second term in Congress.[10] In the 2007 elections, the GWP (Gabriela Women's Party) made a lot of achievements when it came to representation in the election. It is important to note that many of the women who have been elected from the Gabriela Women's Party, are women who have survived abuse in their life.[11]

Election Votes % Seats
2004 464,586 3.65% 1
2007 621,171 3.89% 2
2010 1,001,421 3.31% 2
2013 713,492 2.60% 2
2016 1,367,795 4.22% 2
2019 445,696 1.61% 1

Representatives to Congress

Programs and Positions

One Billion Rising (OBR) Task Force Philippines[12]

One Billion Rising (OBR) is a global campaign founded to end rape and sexual violence against women.[13]

Since 2013, GABRIELA have led the One Billion Rising in the Philippines and abroad (only where the chapters are situated). Now they are coordinating the campaign in the Southeast Asian region, they are part of a huge group who make up the OBR Task Force Philippines.[14]

OBR Task Force Philippines Members:

  • Gabriela
  • Gabriela Women's Party
  • Gabriela Youth
  • Kilusang Mayo Uno (workers)
  • Alliance of Concerned Teachers
  • Ecumenical Women's Forum
  • Salinlahi Alliance for Children's Concerns
  • Association for the Rights of Children in Southeast Asia
  • Amihan Federation of Peasant Women
  • Kadamay
  • Innabuyog Gabriela (Indigenous women)
  • Kabataan Partylist
  • Migrante

Human Trafficking

In the Philippines, GABRIELA is actively involved in awareness campaigns to prevent the trafficking of women and girls from the Philippines. Its strategies consist of seminars and information dissemination to NGOs and government agencies and awareness campaigns at the community level.[15] GABRIELA Philippines reports that a Filipina woman sells for between $3000 and $5000 in the international sex trade.[16] The Gabriela Women's Party launched a campaign against the sex trafficking issue of Filipino women and children which they called the Purple Rose Campaign.[17] Not only do they have campaigns such as the Purple Rose Campaign, but GABRIELA is actively involved in Vow to Fight (VAW) which is the Vow to Fight Against Violence on Women and Free Our Sisters/Free Ourselves campaign.[18]

International branches

GABRIELA USA and GABRIELA Hong Kong are the overseas chapters of the Philippine-based organization, extending the Filipino women's mass movement to the United States and Hong Kong.

The Gabriela Women's Party is part of the a grassroots organization. This has led to many more GABRIELAs in other countries, such as the United States, the Netherlands, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Italy and Germany.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ Sobritchea, Carolyn I (June 30, 2005). "Representations of Gender Inequality and Women's Issues in Philippine Feminist Discourses". Asian Journal of Women's Studies. 11.
  2. ^ "House wants to ban pornographic cartoon". Congress.gov.ph. 2009-04-12. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  3. ^ Guan, Lee Hock (2004). Civil Society in Southeast Asia. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
  4. ^ a b "Rad Geek People's Daily 2006-03-23 – Reign of Terror in the Philippines; women's movement criminalized". Radgeek.com. 2006-03-23. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  5. ^ Arnado, Mary Janet (2011). Feminista: Gender, Race and Class in the Philippines. the Philippines: Anvil Publishing. p. 12. ISBN 978-971-27-2594-4.
  6. ^ Niu, Greta Ai-Yu (Summer 1999). "Wives, widows, and workers: Corazon Aquino, Imelda Marcos, and the Filipina "other"". NWSA Journal.
  7. ^ Ty, Rey (July 2018). "GABRIELA: Contributions of a Third-World Women's Movement to Feminist Theory and Practice". Young Ambassadors of Peace in Asia (YAPA).
  8. ^ Comelec Archived April 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Liza Maza". Congress.gov.ph. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  10. ^ a b Karan, Kavita; Gimeno, Jacques D. M.; Tandoc, Edson (2009). "The Internet and Mobile Technologies in Election Campaigns: The GABRIELA Womens Party During the 2007 Philippine Elections". Journal of Information Technology & Politics. 6 (3–4): 326–339. doi:10.1080/19331680903047420.
  11. ^ Chew, Huibin A (2018). "Bringing the Revolution Home: Filipino Urban Poor Women, "Neoliberal Imperial Feminisms," and a Social Movements Approach to Domestic Abuse". Women's Studies Journal.
  12. ^ "GABRIELA - NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF FILIPINO WOMEN Southeast Asia - Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos". One Billion Rising Revolution. 2013-07-16. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  13. ^ "One Billion Rising", Wikipedia, 2019-09-23, retrieved 2019-12-16
  14. ^ "GABRIELA - NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF FILIPINO WOMEN Southeast Asia - Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos". One Billion Rising Revolution. 2013-07-16. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  15. ^ "Combat Trafficking: Prevention". HumanTrafficking.org. Archived from the original on 2006-04-26. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  16. ^ "Women & The Economy - Globalization & Migration". Unpac.ca. Archived from the original on 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  17. ^ Tzvetkova, Marina (2002). "NGO Responses to Trafficking in Women". Gender & Development. 10: 60–68. doi:10.1080/13552070215893.
  18. ^ Beins, Agatha (2011). Free our sisters, free ourselves: locating U.S. feminism through feminist periodicals, 1970-1983 (Thesis). Rutgers University - Graduate School - New Brunswick. doi:10.7282/t3s75fpw.