Hontiveros to push more pro-women laws

SEN. Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros on Friday vowed to push for more laws that will empower women and address challenges Filipinas face like teenage pregnancy, abuse of young women and toxic marriages.

The senator made this pledge in a speech at the Juana Talks: Bakit Mahalaga ang Agenda ni Juana? forum organized by the Philippine Commission on Women.

“As women, we don’t only talk the talk. We walk the talk,” said Hontiveros, chairman of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality.

She noted that women’s rights advocates were working hard to build on legislative accomplishments made in the 17th Congress and advance new laws that respond to the needs and concerns of women.

“This 18th Congress, we aim to pass laws that will fully empower women, stop abusive practices and end gender-based discrimination and inequality,” Hontiveros said.

The priority measures that the committee of Hontiveros is addressing include the Girls not Brides Act, which will protect young girls from sexual abuse by prohibiting child marriages, and its partner measure, the Raising the Age of Sexual Consent Bill, which will raise the age of sexual consent in the country from 12 to 18 years old.

The senator said her committee was also working on the Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Bill, which will provide a comprehensive, age-appropriate sexuality education module for children to help reduce cases of teenage pregnancy.

Hontiveros added that her committee was also discussing the Dissolution of Marriage Bill, which will provide “second chances” for spouses to end abusive and loveless relationships.

The bill, she said, would strengthen the institution of marriage and address the many cases of Filipino women suffering from domestic violence and other forms of abuse.

Hontiveros noted that persistent efforts by women’s rights groups had led to the passage of landmark pro-women measures in the last 17th Congress such as the Expanded Maternity Leave Law and the Safe Spaces Act or “Bawal Bastos Law.”

“We will not stop with our present triumphs. Instead, we will treat them as inspiration to make new achievements in behalf of all women,” she said.