Keeping women rights work alive

In 1998 I founded Kvinnorättsforum - an organisation for Filipino women living in Sweden. It was in observance of the Philippine's centennial celebration. The Filipino community then consisted of some 8,000 legally residing in the country and the majority were women. It was basaically a women rights' advocacy organisation with a serious agenda: to educate the Filipino immigrants on their rights and to understand how the Swedish society works, particularly the judicial system. A large number of the women were, and probably still remains unaware of the social and legal system's intricacies when it comes to seeking redress for their grievances.

Kvinnorättsforum's yearly program of activities consisted mostly of lectures, where we invited speakers from different Swedish sectors such as the police, to provide useful information on how to navigate the complex social system in search for assistance. We paid particular attention to domestic violence, discrimination in the labour market and educational opportunities for self-improvement.

Violence against women is very broad. Many believe that it refers mainly to physical abuse. Other forms of abuses, which are cultural and psychological in nature are ignored. For instance, there was a case of a Swedish husband who prohibited his Filipino wife from studying the Swedish language and from associating with her Filipino friends, for fear that she might get too much information. Although many of my Filipino friends have successful marriages and careers, a majority of Filipinas live in uncertain relationships - one that is vastly controlled by the men they live with.

It has now become fashionable among Swedish men to marry Asians - especially from the Philippines and Thailand. Internet has made the search for partners easy and convenient. Women from the Third World who are sick of poverty, desire greener pastures and the fastest lane to take is via matrimony or live-in relationship. Many arrive with tourist visas and stay on illegally because the objective is to find a potential husband. Many succeed, thanks to solicituous friends and relatives already living in the country. Some are forced into bad relationships where abuses occur periodically. Illegal immigrants cannot go to the police for fear of being deported.

There were cases of Swedish men regularly changing girlfriends and passing them on to male friends as though they were discarded old clothes. The cycle of procurement and disposal has become a well-established routine for men of perverse sexual needs. It was a laborious experience educating some women that in a live-in relationship, they have no rights in property division in the event of separation or death, unless they have signed papers to the effect. They become unpaid household help and sex slaves.

Many problems occur in mixed marriages because of cultural differences. For instance, many foreign men do not understand the Filipino women's duty to extend financial help to parents and relatives in the Philippines. For Swedes who are taken-cared of "from cradle to grave" in the great welfare state system, there is no such thing as giving financial help to a needy family member. But Filipino culture is family-centered and state interventions do not exist for the needy.

The Philippine government enjoys an annual remittance of 8 to 10 billion dollars from overseas Filipinos who send money regularly to their families. Despite this tremendous input to the economy, many Filipino women immigrants are left to their own fate when misfortune hits them. It is to the credit of many non-governmental organisations (NGOs), that immigrant women are finding assistance and sisterhood in their times of distress.