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THE MANILA TIMES FEATURE
MY fascination with the Internet started when it opened a door for me to enter a world of websites. It was an unendingly exciting trip, as I browsed websites containing various items of interest, from information to entertainment. A couple of months back, however, a friend invited me to browse a very interesting website. It was unique in the fact that it was dedicated to create increased awareness on the plight of women, especially victims of domestic violence. Femalebattle.net site was launched in November 2003 to inspire, inform, educate and empower women on life and its daily challenges. It serves as an avenue for support regarding various issues women face today. As its tagline aptly says, “Because life is a battlefield.”
The site aims to give out information and inspiration to all women on issues and concerns that affect their lives as mother, wife, daughter, friend, and a social individual. It aspires to be an avenue for women to share their experiences, opinions, beliefs, inspirations, talents, and skills that could assist other women in their daily battle in life. The website starts with a homepage, which is a news feature section containing articles relating to battered women. The first news feature mentions the Senate developments in addressing the plight of battered women. As expected, two women senators—Dr. Loi Ejercito-Estrada and Vice Presidential candidate Sen. Loren Legarda—are heavily featured, since both solons took the legislative forefront in championing the cause of battered women. The news section proceeds with an article that defines what a battered woman is. The last articles of the news feature section dwell more on the figures on how many Filipino women are subject to abuse in one form or another. The figures were based on a survey made by the Social Weather Station. I found this to be quite disturbing, considering the high figure (2.16 million) reflected. Up until the time I have started browsing the website, I have never had any idea on the magnitude of the troubles battered women go through. The pages that followed the home page offered assistance to battered women. The Legal Chat page featured a dilemma from a single mother and a legal advisory from a woman lawyer, Atty. Jeanie Pulido in taking the initial steps to address her situation. Attorney Pulido has actually been an invaluable contributor to the website as she continues to provide legal assistance to inquiries from women. The Health page addressed one issue concerning a woman’s health: breast cancer. It mentions the factors that can cause it, the treatment that can be performed on it and check diagnostics for determining if it present. The Relationships page provided an interaction where browsers get to express their reaction on some issues raised. At the time of my browsing, the issue was if it is possible for one man to fall in love with more than one woman at a time. As expected, most of the women who posted did not buy the concept of one man falling for two women. A big step in a battered woman’s life would be letting go of her partner who continues to abuse her. While the Church does not favor divorce, it does understand that unions are no longer bonding in the face of continued abuse. In such unions, the Church recognizes that they were never valid in the first place and therefore can be declared null and void. The Domestic Violence page describes situations where marriage unions can be annulled, and the steps that can be taken towards it. This is to allow a battered partner with a chance to move on with their lives. To say that a battered woman’s life is difficult is an understatement. The calm after the storm would ironically provide a battered woman with a more uphill struggle in her life. Questions like “How do I move on with my career?,” “How do I fulfill my duties as a single working parent” or “Now that I have made the decision to move on, who can I turn to for counseling?” do not provide easy answers. While the website does not offer solutions to all these, it does provide pages of resources for the battered woman in her struggle. The Career page offers advises for women moving on with her work life. While it does not offer tips in moving up the corporate ladder, it does give tips in placing order in her life that she will need in resuming her work career. The Parenting page offers hope that there is fulfillment, even as a single parent. The Religion and Literary sections addresses spiritual needs and the Hotline sections contain a listing of directories for government agencies to assist battered women. However, not all items were hopeful in nature. The Editorial section mentioned an abused woman who seemed to be resigned to her situation and still stick it out to her man who continues to abuse her. Somehow, I could not grasp the logic of her decision. Time and time again, love has been described as being “blind.” However, going through the Editorial section again and again made me think that love is not stupid. After going through each page of the femalebattle.net, I came to realize that the website did more than inform me. I was able to comprehend the magnitude of the reality of women being abused. In the end, the credit that can be given to the femalebattle website, ably handled by Phylline V. Comia as editor, is not just the assistance it tries to extend to battered women, but more on making people see the reality battered women go through and the awareness that there is hope for them. When I started surfing the web, I was worried that with all information overload, I would become jaded. Little did I know, femalebattle would still rile up my sympathy for battered women. The Manila Times Sunday, March 28, 2004
Jun Dolor is presently connected with the
University of Santo Tomas as its Webmaster. You may send your feedback
to his article via his e-mail addresses: jldolor@mal.ust.edu.ph
or jundolor@yahoo.com.
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