For immediate release
January 11, 2012

 Toronto, ON – The National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC) stands in solidarity with women in India as they mourn the loss of 23 year-old student Jyoti Singh from the gruesome gang rape perpetuated by  five men on a moving bus. Such heinous crime is a testament of the brutality of the violence perpetuated against women all over the world, and the vicious nature of patriarchy that lays the foundation for the continuing exploitation, oppression, and subordination of women regardless of cultural origin. While we are saddened and outraged that another woman has fallen victim to violence, we are even more determined and resolved in waging a militant struggle to end violence against women and fight towards genuine women’s liberation.

We echo the voices of women in India and other progressive women and organizations in calling for an end to violence against women and in demanding the end to the normalized rape culture that lays blame on the victims rather than the perpetrators, as well as the lack of action taken by the police, and other state agencies, to prevent and respond to the increase of rape and other forms of sexual violence that have been occurring for a very long time. We also echo their voices in affirming that this particular incident is not isolated within countries like India. Whether it is in developing nations or developed nations, violence against women is rampant in its many forms — blatant or systemic.  As members of NAPWC, we refuse to lay blame on victims of violence and call for an end to all forms of violence against women perpetuated by a patriarchal society that often denounces women’s autonomy over their own body, labour, and political actions. Rape is an act of violence that needs to be put into context along with all other acts of violence and oppression faced prominently by women under our current patriarchal and capitalist system.

As many more women in India have gone out to the streets to protest the violent acts committed against their women, they have also made vocal the realities that women, all over the globe, constantly face in their everyday lives – the day to day assault on women’s rights, women’s bodies, and the blatant and conscious attack on women’s dignity and humanity. Thus, as members of the NAPWC  and as transnational women, we do not accept the current conditions laid out by capitalism and oppose the neoliberal agenda that continues to  devalue  women’s labour and violate their  bodies in this age of globalization.  We call on all women to stand up against systemic violence and continue the unfinished struggle for just and genuine women’s liberation.

DOWN WITH PATRIARCHY!
END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN!
ONWARD WITH THE STRUGGLE FOR GENUINE WOMEN’S LIBERATION!

For more information, contact:
(416) 519-2553
pwc-on@magkaisacentre.org
www.magkaisacentre.org