“Women Unites To Fight Violence”

“I was abused by my husband for 11 years, categorically all forms of violence, but stayed in the relationship for the sake of my children and just accepted my fate”. – Elizabeth Sol, 55.

Elizabeth Sol is one of the 24 women who experienced violence in Barangay Manalogon, Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental.
However, these 24 women did not report their cases to the police. They took the initiative to organize themselves for them to help each other fight violence and assist those would-be survivors of violence.

Also, they organized themselves because they wanted to avail of livelihood programs especially from the government. In 2012, the group registered with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) as a livelihood organization. The organization is called Kapunungan sa mga Kababaihan sa Manalongon (KAKAMA).

The KAKAMA has become the support group of abused women in barangay Manalongon. They were able to facilitate 10 abused women who sought their help to have temporary shelter at the barangay chairperson and at some concerned citizens’ houses in the area.

The Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), entered in Sta. Catalina in 2012 but in year one or cycle one of implementation Manalongon’s proposed water system project was not prioritized.

In the second cycle, the people of Manalongon proposed anew the same water system project and it gained the approval of the municipal inter-barangay forum (MIBF). While KAKAMA members have been actively involved in helping the abused women, some of them have also been active in the Kalahi-CIDSS program implementation as volunteers.

Elizabeth Sol is one of those KAKAMA members who volunteered for Kalahi-CIDSS and served as member of the Monitoring and Inspection Team for the community’s project, Improvement of Manalongon Water System. As volunteer, she was tasked to collect from every household the payment for water.

The water system project was finished on May 23, 2014 and benefited 152 households.
In 2014, barangay Manalongon received a Gender Incentive Grant (GIG). The GIG is a complementary grant fund provided by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to fund identified gender issues in a barangay/municipality.
With this complementary grant, the KAKAMA group proposed a Gender and Development Training. The training enabled the women to widen their knowledge on gender equalities and their rights through the series of seminars and trainings.
All 24 KAKAMA members together with other KC volunteers were trained with the following sessions on the Basic training on Gender and Development which tackles on differentiating Sex and Gender, Gender Role, Gender Division of Labor and the Legal Mandates and Guidelines of GAD; Trainor’s Training, Organizational Diagnosis on KAKAMA and the Organizational Development cum Strategic Planning Workshop.

The GAD training gave the women clear understanding of their rights and affirmed their passion to support other women victims of violence. Some of the women said: “Kung wala pa lang na ang mga balaod nga amo nahibaw-an, di jud na mahunong ang pag pang abuso (If there have been no laws like the laws that we just have learned from the training, abuses against women and children will not stop),” said Judith Narciso, 65 years old and KAKAMA president.
Judith said that through the training, the husbands in their community learned about the consequences if they violate the law. The women also learned their rights and how to defend themselves.

Most of the women said after the training that they should not have allowed this violence to happen because it’s a violation of their rights as a person.

The learning they got from the training inspired these women to become advocates of women’s rights.
In 2015, Barangay Manalongon received an incentive grant from MCC. The KAKAMA group felt the need for a temporary shelter for the victims of VAWC, thus, they proposed for another project to construct a Crisis Center for Women. The KAKAMA has been providing temporary shelter for women who need their help.

Evangeline Pausal known as “banghel” a treasurer of KAKAMA, a VAW survivor, shared that these Gender and Development Seminars and the Kalahi-CIDSS’ inititiative in wideninng their knowledge and preparing them to be advocates of the rights of women helped us in achieving our objectives.

The completion of the Crisis Center boosted the confidence of KAKAMA to serve the victims of violence.
“Pagkahibaw sa uban nga naa nami crisis center, nangutana jud ang amo silingan kung mao ba nay prisohan sa mga bana nga mamun-og, (Now that everyone knew about the crisis center, someone from our neighbor asked me if the crisis center is the place where abusive husbands will be detained),” Evangeline Pausal merrily shared how it affects the community and how the women took the challenge to stand against abuse.

We are really thankful to Kalahi-CIDSS Gender Incentive Grant for giving us the knowledge and guided us to be good advocates to women’s rights. For me, this is the greatest legacy, while I am still here, I will never stop my journey in helping other victims and put a stop to violence aganst women and children,” added Evangeline Pausal.

Now, Elizabeth, Judith and Evangeline and KAKAMA are busy attending trainings called by the LGU especially trainings on Gender. Some of the KAKAMA members also served as resource persons on trainings about gender and development.