For Immediate Release
February 15, 2016
In preparations for the 106th Anniversary of the International Working Women’s Day Celebration and the 3rd National Congress on March 19-20, “ABANTE! (Advance) Women defend the people's democratic rights for our dignity and self determination!”, GABRIELA USA members and allies in New York City, Seattle, the San Francisco/Bay Area, Portland and Los Angeles held successful actions in hubs of Filipino American communities and populous points of urban cities. Actions were intergenerational with immigrant workers, youth and students and community organizations; the uniting call was to end all types of violence against women!
Across the country, chapters of GABRIELA USA gathered and danced with a mission to end violence against women with forced migration, state violence and displacement in particular. Highlighting domestic violence and campaigns of wage theft, trafficking of Filipino teachers, and opposition to the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), GABRIELA USA members drew attention to violence that Filipino women and children face, in the U.S. and the Philippines.
From the U.S. to the Philippines to Palestine and throughout the globe, we are witnessing the ever-worsening crisis of a global imperialist system. In the U.S., Filipinos are marching alongside Black people to resist racially targeted police violence on Black people, while police officers are not held accountable for their actions. Meanwhile, displacement of working-class families in urban communities have been rampant despite the overwhelming wealth being funneled into major cities in the U.S. Furthermore, there are increasing deportations of migrant families who seek refuge and a dignified life in the U.S. In the Philippines, the Lumad are resisting plunder of ancestral lands and defending the rights of indigenous children for a culturally relevant education.
As imperialist interests are increasing in its aggression, working-class women and their families have to bear the costs and impacts of a system that profits from the exploitation of the majority. It is our duty to raise the analysis on the issue of violence against women (VAW), expanding beyond VAW as a gender issue, and highlighting the economic, political, and cultural aspects by connecting how imperialism perpetuates and worsens VAW in all its forms.
To register for GABRIELA USA’s national congress, please visit www.abantegabriela.org.