• Culture
    Culture
    Filipino actors Bridgerton

    Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

    pura luka vega chappell roan church

    Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

    AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

    AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

    • Women
    • Queer
    • Politics
    • Environment
    • Food
  • Style
    Style
    Pond's serums

    These night serums are your new solutions for radiant, glowing skin

    5 original Filipino fragrance brands to check out

    5 original Filipino fragrance brands to check out

    Here’s where you can get unique, one-off accessories—designed by you

    • Fashion
    • Beauty
    • Space
    • Shopping
  • Entertainment
    Entertainment
    Filipino actors Bridgerton

    Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

    pura luka vega chappell roan church

    Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

    charlie’s angels totally spies!

    Our favorite onscreen spies, from Austin Powers to ‘Totally Spies!’

    • Celebrities
    • TV & Movies
    • Music
  • Life+Money
    Life+Money
    Single woman adopts baby

    Forming a family: When a single woman adopts a baby

    painting of baby

    A mother-to-be’s survival guide

    Navigating a friend breakup that has no bad blood

    It’s no one’s fault: When a friendship naturally runs its course

    • Career & Money
    • Parenting & Relationships
    • Sex & Health
    • Astrology
    • Travel
  • Inquirer.net
  • Lifestyle
Reading
Finally, Here’s How You Can Silence the Cat Calls and Wolf Whistles
ShareTweet
In Culture
3 min read

Finally, Here’s How You Can Silence the Cat Calls and Wolf Whistles

By Olivia Estradaon December 12, 2017
girl walking
Share

The problem with sexual harassment is how it’s so common you don’t know what to do about it. From the spine-freezing “Hi, Miss” and creepy questions thrown while you’re walking to get some coffee, to more aggressive situations like being groped in a bar, how do women fight back?

Existing laws against sexual harassment in the workplace, laws against unjust vexation, and acts of lasciviousness don’t exactly cover these transgressions. Moreover, we’ve grown accustomed to a culture that tells women to ignore what happened or to just list it down under the “boys will be boys” excuse.

This has to change as we can’t normalize these actions any longer. It impedes on women’s rights and the very nature of human dignity. Sen Risa Hontiveros together with Sen. Grace Poe are now fighting hard for the passage of The Safe Streets and Public Spaces Act into law. With this bill, criminalization of “commonplace” sexual misdemeanors will be dealt with. It also sends a message that this kind of culture can’t go on as it’s illegal.

At the press conference of the said act, we further got to clarify what it can do, how it shall be implemented, and what you can do to make this happen.

Let’s lobby for the #SafeSpaces bill ✨❤️

Thank you everyone for sharing your stories! https://t.co/Sjpk5xxeCU

— Preen.ph (@preenph) November 26, 2017

What is it? 

Senate Bill 1326 or The Safe Streets and Public Space Act seeks to “…fight against sexual harassment to the ground by penalizing catcalling, wolf-whistling, groping, leering, and persistent requests for contact details and other acts that violate women and LGBT persons’ personal spaces.”

The act proposes to punish three types of offenses with respective sanctions. Light violations such as catcalling, wolf-whistling shall be punishable by 30 days in prison or a fine of P3,000.

Intermediate violation such as displaying of private parts shall be subject to six months imprisonment and a fine of P5,000.

The most severe of offenses such as pinching, brushing, and groping will merit imprisonment for at least six months or a fine of P10,000.

This also empowers a “No means No” principle. This enforces that when a women says “No” whether in English, Filipino, or her native language, it presumes the absence of consent.

How can it help you? 

Fashion designer Mich Dulce, The Building’s Mariah Reodica, and Ourselves The Elves’ vocalist Aly Cabral spoke about their personal experiences and observations at the press conference. These three women pointed out how sexual harassment happens everywhere.

Mich, touched on how she was groped at a bar in Makati over two months ago, where she realized that the current law can’t exactly give her justice. According to her, the bill will help counter how women are told not to overreact. “It also empowers the importance of consent,” she says.

I salute brave women led by Aly, Mariah & @michdulce who today spoke out vs alleged sexual misconduct in local music scene & pushed for passage of #SafeSpaces Bill into law. Misogyny in music scene stifles creativity. Safe spaces, on other hand, foster creativity pic.twitter.com/K24hvTyBhS

— risa hontiveros (@risahontiveros) December 12, 2017

Aly pointed out how this can help further the conversation outside social media. Usually, it is a tool to reveal what really goes on at gigs but it has a caveat. “The call out culture on Twitter is toxic,” Aly says. But with The Safe Streets and Public Spaces Bill, the burden on social media to carry out justice is lifted. Justice is better served in a formal setting and these instances are called out formally.

With so many allegations popping up in the local band scene, this law is  more important now than ever before. It makes those places and meet-ups a lot safer for women and the LGBT community. It also helps zoom in on places that aren’t covered by the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law which is specific to work environments. Mariah says how this helps make concerts a place where women don’t have to be scared. The bill helps show how  “niche spaces can be places for change.”

Where is it now?  

As of today, the act is about to enter the stage of interpolation in the Philippine Senate. This can be deemed as the second phase before the final reading, approval, and passage as a law. Hurrah! But that doesn’t mean that Sen. Hontiveros and the various government officials backing this bill don’t need your help anymore.

What can you do? 

Public clamor is important. Tweeting and posting about it will help remind the Senators how real the problem is. You can also just simply talk about this with your friends and educate at a personal level. As the ripples of this conversation move forward, it adds pressure to the committees involved to pass the bill into law.

 

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Follow Preen on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Viber

Related stories:
Catcalling Was Never a Compliment, So Why Do People Still Think It Is?
How Milliner Mich Dulce Fought Back the Man Who Groped Her Butt
READ: One Woman’s Story Against a Local Artist Who Allegedly Groped Her
The Predatory Side of the Local Band Scene
What’s Life Like Outside a Rape Schedule?

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0

Action Required!

We embed Facebook Comments plugin to allow you to leave comment at our website using your Facebook account. It may collects your IP address, your web browser User Agent, store and retrieve cookies on your browser, embed additional tracking, and monitor your interaction with the commenting interface, including correlating your Facebook account with whatever action you take within the interface (such as “liking” someone’s comment, replying to other comments), if you are logged into Facebook. For more information about how this data may be used, please see Facebook’s data privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.

Accept    Decline

Tags
feminismrape cultureSen. Grace PoeSen. Risa Hontiverossexual abusesexual harassmentSexual Misconduct

Subscribe to our newsletter

Stay in the loop


By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

ShareTweetEmailShare
Olivia Estrada

Peek This

Pond's serums

These night serums are your new solutions for radiant, glowing skin

Filipino actors Bridgerton

Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

pura luka vega chappell roan church

Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

Preen.ph © 2020. Hinge Inquirer Publications, Inc.
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • HOME
  • ARCHIVES
  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
Previous
Metallic and Colorful Christmas Outfits Inspired by Victoria Beckham and Kylie Verzosa
galaxy
Next
Battle Mercury In Retrograde With Cosmos-Inspired Makeup
  • Culture
    • Women
    • Queer
    • Politics
    • Environment
    • Food
  • Style
    • Fashion
    • Beauty
    • Space
    • Shopping
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrities
    • TV & Movies
    • Music
  • Life+Money
    • Career & Money
    • Parenting & Relationships
    • Sex & Health
    • Astrology
    • Travel
  • Inquirer.net
  • Lifestyle
  • Subscribe
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Search
Start typing to see results or hit ESC to close
fashion fashion news music Culture News movies
See all results

Subscribe to our newsletter

Stay in the loop


By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.