Keep women and children safe from rape and sexual abuse in disaster areas

Joint Statement of Partido ng Manggagawa Women’s Committee and Women’s Day Off

15 November 2013

It’s the 6^th day of the aftermath of super-typhoon Yolanda.  Food distribution, power and water supplies, communication and transportation have remained big problems.  Hence, victims have become hungrier and more desperate.  According to Secretary Ochoa, government needs to produce 146,000 relief packs a day.  So far, it has only been able to produce 50,000 per day.  Various groups, families of victims and individuals have mobilized relief goods but these could not compensate for the big shortage.  Logically, a significant number of people have been going hungry for days.

Today, the situation has become even more distressing as confirmed reports of rape began to surface, particularly in Tacloban City.  Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and Women’s Day Off fear that the same thing may be happening in other affected areas especially in towns/sitios where power has not been restored and the local government non-functional.  Moreover, the consequent deprivation of food and water for days increases the danger of coercive sexual encounters among women and children.

The impact of disasters such as Yolanda on reproductive health can be devastating.  We are equally concerned with displaced women who will be pregnant, face delivery under dangerous conditions, and others who may be victims of violence.  In addition to food and water, and other basic needs, we expect the need for reproductive health services and information to persist and even escalate.

The Philippine government should immediately set-up temporary refuge/shelters to house women and children to isolate them from the risk of rape and other forms of sexual abuse.  In the absence of hospitals or clinics nearby, makeshift health facilities with essential items to ensure the health of women and newborns should likewise be set-up.  Finally, makeshift toilets and baths with locks should also be constructed for the use of women and children.  Their safety is as vital.  Recovery and rehabilitation will take time, hence, the importance of these temporary structures and services for women and children.

Appeal for Solidarity with Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan Victims

Tacloban City, 10 November 2013

The most powerful typhoon ever recorded in the Philippines and one of the worst in the world, super typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda slammed the central part of the archipelago and wrought devastation in its wake. The true extent of the damage to lives and property is yet to be known as Haiyan/Yolanda destroyed critical communications and power infrastracture thus limiting access to the worst hit areas.

Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) [Labor Party-Philippines] is appealing for solidarity and assistance to ordinary workers and poor who have suffered from the super tyhoon’s impact. PM members among informal drivers and the urban poor in Tacloban, Leyte were among those severely affected and will be among the focus of the relief assistance.

The super typhoon swept through the islands of the central Philippines from Cebu to Panay where PM maintains chapters in the key cities. In Cebu and Bohol, the devastation of the typhoon comes on top of the destruction brought by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake less than a month ago. As in all the disasters brought about by climate change, the urban and rural poor suffer the most.

PM is appealing for assistance so it could offer relief at least to its affected members and its organized communities. Relief assistance would complement the organizing efforts of PM on the basis of urban poor and working class issues.

PM is a political organization of the working class which engages in parliamentary struggle as a extension of the parliament of the streets. Even as PM has a strategic vision of social change, it actively fights for social reform and even involves in relief efforts as means to arouse, organize and mobilize the working people.

To donate via Paypal: http://laborpartyphilippines.org/funddrive

To donate via bank wire transfer:

Partido ng Manggagawa
Current Account No. 003122-1012-73
Landbank of the Philippines
Batasan Branch

Swift Code: TLBPPHMMXXX

  

To donate relief goods contact:

Partido ng Manggagawa-Central Visayas office

Workers Development Center, Barangay Pajo, Lapu-Lapu City 6015

Cellphone Nos. +639166058407, +639328785506

Partido ng Manggagawa National office

144 Legaspi St., Project 4, Quezon City, Philippines 1109

Landline No. +632-4396829

Cellphone Nos. +639175570777, +639228677522,+639209466191