Lost in translation

A recurring theme in the speeches I heard in Washington last week was that countries where the gender gap is narrower tend to be more prosperous, peaceful and stable.

Washington is making a global push for women empowerment, with the focus currently on the Arab world that is being rocked by violent unrest. Arab despots who don’t get it can take a look at the many female faces in the mass protests. Women empowerment is an essential component of democracy.

But like democracy, women empowerment needs nurturing and strengthening. It doesn’t drop into our laps, bringing with it prosperity and stability overnight. Having a woman as president is also no guarantee that a country will be better run or that women will enjoy more rights. Just consider the Philippines.

Those linking gender parity with prosperity should avoid using the Philippines as an example because the message will fly out the window.

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As I’ve mentioned previously, the Philippines ranks ninth in gender parity among 134 countries included in the 2010 index prepared by the World Economic Forum (WEF). We were ranked ahead of the United States, which placed 19th. We’re in the top 10 together with several of the advanced economies led by Iceland, Norway and Finland. This is one global index where we are way ahead of Southeast Asia’s perennial overachiever Singapore, which ranked 56th.

Our laws guarantee equal opportunities for men and women in all aspects of national life – political, economic and educational – and women do take advantage of those opportunities. Maybe these things were measured in the WEF’s Gender Gap Index.

Filipino women do contribute immensely to national productivity. Think of what could happen if millions of our women aren’t working overseas, serving as their families’ breadwinner and remitting billions annually, accounting for those positive economic growth figures.

During our conference in Washington, I told some of the delegates with pride about Philippine laws banning gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace and schools, about the tough law against domestic violence, and even about our shopping malls where there are now special rooms for breastfeeding.

And yet gender parity is not enjoyed by all, and millions of Filipino women are unaware of the rights they enjoy under the law.

As in many of our laws, there’s a yawning gap between enactment of legislation for women’s welfare and implementation.

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Women and young girls continue to be trafficked for sex, and now women are being recruited as drug mules. I guess the flesh trade will always be around; both demand and supply are constant. The best we can hope for is to stop children from becoming victims, and to protect women from entering the flesh trade against their will.

Women – and often their children – also continue to suffer from domestic violence, unaware of the tough law that gives women custody of the kids, the house, the car, the money and even the dog – if they are battered by their man and they file a complaint.

These days Filipino women are battling that great bastion of male chauvinism, the Roman Catholic Church, and its supporters for control over their own bodies. The Taliban tactics of the condom police in Ayala Alabang (truly, the rich are not like you and me) has no place in a functioning democracy.

An interesting report that came out during my stay in Washington was about a study showing a growing number of Americans declaring that they no longer practice any religion.

Singapore and China went that way ages ago, and the same trend is being seen across Western Europe.

For the many who still have religion in their lives in this country, maybe someone should start a church where women are not fourth-class citizens – a church that is, why not, headed by a woman. That’s one glass ceiling that needs breaking.

Why should a bunch of men who’ve never raised families and worried about where to find food to put on a crowded table dictate what women should do with their bodies?

It’s good that President Aquino is sticking to his support for the Reproductive Health bill. If the bill doesn’t pass, the Department of Health should just go ahead and provide family planning counseling and universal access to contraceptives. If hypocrites in Congress refuse to provide a budget for it, P-Noy can turn to foreign donors for help.

I don’t know why the Church should worry about Catholic women exercising free will and making informed choices about their life. If Church teachings are so effective, the faithful will not use contraceptives even if these are given away for free.

Women with sufficient education and financial means can use contraceptives but can choose not to. Millions of poor women do not have that choice.

This is not the only reason why gender parity in this country is meaningless to millions of poor women. But it surely is one of the biggest reasons.

And it has to be one of the reasons why gender parity has not yet translated into peace, stability and prosperity for the country.

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THE BEST WAY TO LEARN A LANGUAGE… Leaving Washington, a security guy at Dulles International who saw my passport greeted me with “Kumusta ka?” and “Salamat.” He said his sister married a Filipino and he’s picked up Tagalog words from the couple.

The driver of the taxi that brought me to the airport also told me he once had a Filipina girlfriend. “I love Filipinos, I love Filipinos!” he gushed. (Okay, maybe he just wanted a big tip.) In their one year together, he learned some Tagalog words and phrases, which he recited to me. Apart from “Ano’ng pangalan mo,” he remembered, “Masakit ang ulo ko ngayon.”