Women’s empowerment should include freedom of choice, dignity and protection from abuse, not just financial independence, the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) said as it called for stronger support for caregivers and recognition of unpaid care work.
“Empowerment cannot be measured by economic independence alone. Financial security is an essential safeguard, but true empowerment is fundamentally defined by agency,” the commission said in a statement over the weekend.
The PCW made the call in connection with the United Nations’ International Day of Care and Support, urging the government and businesses to provide more public daycare facilities, fair wages, paid parental leave and flexible work arrangements.
Many Filipino women want to work or start businesses but face barriers such as unaffordable child care, low wages and unequal household responsibilities, it said.
“We cannot preach self-reliance while leaving caregivers without real institutional support,” the commission said.
It also urged husbands and partners to share household chores and child care responsibilities equally.
The PCW called for a review of domestic workers’ wages and benefits to ensure fair compensation, social protection and reasonable working hours, as well as recognition of their role as essential workers.
“We cannot speak of valuing care work if the people who nurture our households and care for our families are paid substandard wages,” it said.
The commission stressed that homemaking and caring for children, sick relatives and older people are essential contributions that allow other family members to work.
“Diminishing her contribution just because she does not bring home a paycheck ignores the very labor that keeps our families alive and whole,” it said.
The PCW, however, emphasized that financial independence remains vital to women’s safety and self-reliance.
It cited Republic Act 9262, or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act, which recognizes economic abuse as a form of violence.
Withholding financial support, controlling bank accounts and preventing partners from working are among the tactics used by abusers, the commission said. Financial constraints also prevent many women from leaving abusive relationships.
Savings, financial literacy and livelihood skills can help women cope when a spouse becomes ill, loses a job, abandons the family or dies, it added.
The PCW also called for an end to discrimination against stay-at-home fathers, saying children learn shared responsibility and respect when they see men taking part in household chores and caregiving.
A partner’s lower income, it said, should never be used to silence them or undermine their authority as a parent.
Citing the precolonial babaylan tradition of healing, leadership and community care, the commission urged Filipinos to promote shared responsibility and reject attitudes that place women below men.
It said empowerment takes different forms among corporate leaders, workers, homemakers, entrepreneurs, women with disabilities, overseas Filipino workers and farmers.
“What binds them together is not their salary, but dangal, pagpapasya, at paggalang (dignity, agency and respect),” it said. (PNA)
