Also in the area are other women dressed more
conservatively in jeans and shirt. They are not around to earn money for the
night. Belonging to Bagong Kamalayan Collective Inc. (BKCI), they have come to
talk to their scantily clad "sisters" about their rights and to try
to inspire them to rebuild their lives.
Liza Gonzales, recounting the scene to the
Philippine Daily Inquirer, knows what life is like in the red light district.
She was once one of those scantily clad women working in that neighborhood.
Most of the BKCI staff "used to ‘gimmick’
in Cubao and Quezon Avenue," Gonzales said in a recent interview.
With the help of the Coalition against
Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific (CATW-AP), Gonzales and four other
"survivors of prostitution" got out of the trade and formed BKCI in
2004.
"We want prostituted women to see that
they can have a stable livelihood even if they quit," Gonzales said.
Today, BKCI’s original five members have grown
to 50. They have found a source of income not just for themselves but for other
victims of prostitution. BKCI recently opened a cooperative canteen.
"Hopefully our canteen becomes a big, big
restaurant so we can help more women," Gonzales said in Filipino.
The place is barely half the size of the other
eateries along a street in Quezon City, but BKCI members talk about it with
pride.
What they have now is a far cry from what they
had when the Inquirer first met the group in 2005.
They had no canteen then. Engaged in food
catering, all they had were a few utensils for cooking meals which they
delivered to meetings of various other advocacy groups. To reheat the dishes,
they would bring along a "super kalan" (liquefied petroleum gas tank
with a built-in burner).
Money problems
For a time, they also offered laundry service,
washing clothes with bare hands. Having no weighing scale, they would go to a
nearby market to weigh their clients’ laundry.
They also ventured into small businesses, such
as selling homemade soap, but these didn’t bring in much money. Three years
ago, their money problems worsened.
"We didn’t even have a centavo in the
bank," Gonzales said.
Gina (not her real name), one of the
"survivors" that the BKCI had plucked from the streets, recalled a
time when she could not even pay the rent for her family’s apartment and she
had beg the landlord not to throw them out into the streets.
In those hard times, other members lived in
the CATW-AP office. One of them, Rem (also a pseudonym), was attending high
school and had to sleep in the director’s office, where CATW-AP employees also
worked.
Surviving temptations
There were times when they had no money to buy
food.
"When you have nothing to feed your
children, it’s tempting to turn to prostitution for fast money but because of
our good foundation, we remained strong. We survived without going back,"
Gonzales said.
Even as they struggled to live, they still
conducted educational seminars and scoured red light districts in Quezon City
and elsewhere on the chance they might help other women trapped in
prostitution. Support from allied NGOs and their strong belief that “there is
life after prostitution” kept them going, Gonzales said.
Eventually members learned skills from livelihood
training seminars. Some even attended baking classes at Miriam College.
Initially, they thought of setting up a bakeshop.
But they settled for a canteen because the
girls found it difficult to make bread, Gonzales said.
With their personal savings and donations from
CATW-AP and other supporters, the group earlier this year finally managed to
open their 9-square-meter canteen.
Their profit and donations help them pursue
their mission, support their families and send themselves and their children to
school.
Gina has five children who are all studying.
Her eldest is now in college.
Rem, 25, said: "Before, I could not even
imagine myself going back to school. It seemed impossible."
She is now pursuing a bachelor degree in
cooperatives at Polytechnic University of the Philippines. Her sister,
20-year-old Rose (also not her real name) and also a survivor from
prostitution, is now a fourth year high school student at Miriam College for adult
education.
The two sisters want to take up courses on
social development so they can better assist victims of sex trafficking.
Continuing the fight
With diplomas and newly acquired skills, some
members have left BKCI to focus on their own lives. But others have remained
because "we need to continue fighting for the rights of other victims of
prostitution and be their voice while they are still in the trade,"
Gonzales said.
Gonzales is the only founder left in the
organization.
Carrying thermos, packets of instant coffee
and bread, BKCI members still pound the streets of red light districts.
Over coffee, they would talk with prostitution
victims about laws protecting women’s
rights and other issues.
"Most of them are not aware of their
rights. When authorities take them to the precinct, they assume that cases are
already filed against them even without any inquest," Gonzales said.
Afraid to stay behind bars, women simply give
cash and their cell phones or, worse, give cops sexual favors in exchange for
their freedom.
Gina said: "When cops like the
apprehended woman, she is forced to have sex with them."
Nowadays, "kotong" (bribe) ranges
from 3,000 pesos to 4,500 pesos (US$68 to US$102) , and transactions begin even
before they reach the precinct, she said.
Fighting for rights
BKCI and CATW-AP are lobbying for the passage
of the antiprostitution bill, which shifts criminal liabilities from
prostituted persons to customers, pimps, brothel and nightclub owners and law
enforcement officers.
The measure has been pending in Congress for
11 years.
Gonzales resents calling women in prostitution
sex workers or prostitutes. "We call them ‘prostituted women’ because
prostitution is not a job but a violation of human rights."
Women in this field are often looked at as
sinners and home wreckers. "But we are not criminals…We are actually
victims," Gonzales said.
"Some are victims of rape or incest. Some
are girls from rural areas who were fooled by illegal recruiters…We are victims
of different circumstances, but we all fell into prostitution," she said.
Gonzales said her group did not force women to
leave their trade. "They have to reach the point when they no longer want
to be there."
"We have healed our wounds,"
Gonzales said. "We may not be able to forgive those who abused us, those
who raped us. But to be able to heal, to go back to the community and freely
express ourselves and fight for our rights, we feel blessed."
Said Gina: "I am most fulfilled because I
am no longer on the streets."
Rima Jessamine M. Granali
Philippine Daily Inquirer
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