I was invited to sit as a resource person during the Senate Committee hearing on Gender Based Electronic Violence (GBEV) and Electronic Violence Against Women (E-VAW) last 23 August 2017. For the event, I was asked to prepare a personal statement as well as a position paper the Philippine Society of SRH Nurses Inc. I opted read the position paper we prepared so I am sharing with you herevmy personal statement regarding gender based violence online:
"Honorable Senators,
Secretaries and staff of the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and
Gender Equality, and the Committee on Science and Technology, fellow advocates,
and most especially survivors, good morning. I am Janina Gillian O. Santos, a registered nurse and a member of the Philippine Society of SRH Nurses, Inc. Let me tell you a story of a girl
who began a sexual relationship with a boy. Like the familiar tale, the girl fell
in love and guy did not. She did her best to make him happy anyway. It is one
of the oldest stories in the book. He was a budding photographer, a teacher in
a small school for rich children in the South, a volunteer of organizations
promoting rational thinking especially among young people. He is currently
married to a beautiful, accomplished woman. He was, in other words, not the
kind of person one would expect to exhibit blatant disrespect and cruelty. On
Valentines Day in 2015, this man leaked photos of the girl performing intimate
acts on him. Part of her face was visible, despite the low lighting. His was
not. The photos were taken with her
consent and trust that it will be for his eyes only. This man posted her photos in his fake Facebook
account, and it stayed up for three hours despite the girl’s constant plea for
him to take it down. After three hours, several desperate calls and messages,
comments about “valentines sex”, the man finally took the photos down. He
apologized, saying that what happened was an accident.
It may indeed
be an accident, or it may have been something more malicious. Nevertheless, the
girl suffered significant psychological damage, going through a period of
depression, suicidal ideation, and self harm. This is a story which I know to
be true, which I have personal and intimate knowledge of. The effect of sexual
violence on a victim is the same, regardless of what platform the sexual
violence was committed.
The
incidents of Gender Based Electronic Violence may not be perfectly recorded,
but one only has to look in pages dubbed as “Hokage” to know that it is
happening. Women’s photos being shared without consent has become a norm, has
become normalized, that Facebook community pages were created for the sole
purpose of men sexualizing photos posted without the consent of the owner.
Beyond the
effect on the victim, Gender Based Electronic Violence has a chilling effect on
Freedom of Speech online. Dissenting opinions are met, not with rational
arguments, but with threats of rape and murder, either towards person whose
opinions are different or towards this person’s loved ones. GBV has always been
a tool for dominance, but when done online, the effect is compounded, because
people with similar tendencies – to threaten someone with sexual violence to
suppress them – feel free to act on it. I have experienced this, in my
interactions online, when I question people’s victim blaming behaviour towards
rape and sexual harassment victims, I am slut-shamed, with my morals as a woman
questioned very publicly. I have seen others treated worse, those whose
political opinions vary from the popular are promised rape and murder.
Stopping
Gender Based Electronic Violence is a daunting task, because it has been
normalized. It has cloaked itself with the mask of Free Speech without
responsibility. The only way out for the victim is to disconnect, but with 30
million Filipinos online, can a victim really get away from the lasting effects
of online violence?
As a woman,
an advocate for women’s sexual health and rights, and as someone who has, time
and again, been subjected to threats and misogynistic comments thrown without
remorse nor consideration, I am grateful that we are now talking about protecting
women and our LGBT brothers and sisters from this pervasive problem."
Janina
Gillian O. Santos RN, SRHN, FPSORHN
Incorporator
Philippine Society of SRH
Nurses, Inc.
