Trigger warning: rape, sexual assault
Following the #HijaAko movement that stemmed from Frankie Pangilinan’s clap back at Ben Tulfo, many people shared their stories and urged people to stand up to sexual abuse and fight rape culture in the country. Earlier today, Pangilinan tweeted about turning #HijaAko into a greater advocacy based on the number of people that came forward online.
been asked a few times now if i’ll be pushing the #HijaAko movement into a greater advocacy. while the brainstorming is imminent, i think it’s more important right now to take the time to hear from all the people who were brave enough to share their stories.
— hija (@kakiep83) June 17, 2020
Despite the number of people speaking up through #HijaAko, Tulfo still stood firm with his victim-blaming beliefs, writing on his personal Facebook page “Bitag Live” that “it’s all about prevention not solution.”
“If the child was raped, how did the crime happened? Was the child abandoned or neglected because the parents were not paying attention? Was there an opportunity given to the child molester that parents should be blamed and be charged for child endangerment? It’s all about prevention not solution” Tulfo said.
Former VJ and TV host Kat Alano was one of the many survivors who came forward and joined the #HijaAko movement which seeks to end victim-blaming. In her tweet, Alano shared that she was “raped by #rhymeswithwrong still famous celebrity who had smear campaigns to destroy my career [and] raped many more.” Alano further added that she was wearing a T-shirt and jeans when it happened.
When I was raped by #rhymeswithwrong still famous celebrity who had smear campaigns to destroy my career&raped many more,i was wearing a Tshirt and jeans.
He drugged me too,so trying to take my jeans off was difficult for him.Hard to rape an unconscious person in jeans. #HijaAko— Breaking free (@katalano) June 15, 2020
Many people put two and two together and started dropping names of the celebrity in question and sent their own tweets of support to Alano.
Back in 2014, Alano was shunned for being vocal about rape on her Facebook and Twitter accounts. Without dropping names, she spoke up about how people were quick to defend abusers. People slammed her for hinting at a celebrity accused of rape at the time, with some even defending him because he was a TV personality.
Indeed, show business has a notorious reputation of protecting rapists and sexual abusers while putting the blame on the victims. It’s good to notice that many people on Twitter have now supported Alano on her recent tweet with some admitting that it was wrong to have antagonized her for speaking up in 2014. While we still have a long way to go, #HijaAko is one of the many movements that has given survivors a platform to speak up against victim-blaming and to end protecting sexual abusers no matter who they are.
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
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