Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of sexual violence.
IN 2017, a report by the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) uncovered the experiences of indigenous women under mass abuse in armed conflict and found that they were often sexually exploited, brutalized, massacred, and asked to be silent about these assaults.
The TJRC conducts community consultations through the listening process of its “dealing with the past” framework, which pursues truth, justice, as well as reparations for and non-occurrence of atrocities. Assuring such “accountability and redress” for victims of collective trauma—particularly the stories of women—are imperative in illustrating the image and futures of survivors.
Gender dimensions
In the experience of former Senior Gender Adviser of the TJRC Ma. Lourdes Veneracion-Rallonza, PhD, stigmatization and men taking “center stage” in conversations are cultural barriers within Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) communities. “[Men] are the overt ones….the cultural practice essentially is that it is very male,” she said. While women possess influence, it is not the norm for them to command the conversation—thus causing gaps in policy-making.
To address these issues, the TJRC’s listening process utilizes the gender perspective to consider the concerns of men and women in all aspects of the program. One concern that emerged was ensuring that women would have safe spaces to voice out their concerns. With this, Veneracion-Rallonza stressed that the most underrepresented groups are integral in transitional justice interventions. “Gender has to be front, back, and center,” she said.
According to Veneracion-Rallonza, the results of listening processes conducted in 2015 revealed that inequality is rooted in gender. Gender roles dictate that men are the voice of authority in the public sphere, while women are discouraged from talking about their abuse for fear of ostracization and vilification.
When sexual violence is employed as a weapon of war that targets women, it further aggravates gender inequality among communities. For example, rebel groups and the military during Martial Law used rape, forced marriage, and other forms of gender-based violence to instill fear in ethnic communities.
Given the weaponization of sexual violence, the listening processes also revealed that men and women have varied experiences in armed conflict. For instance, it is considered taboo for women to openly discuss their experiences with sexual violence—thereby placing reconciliation out of arm’s reach. On the other hand, trauma-laden memories of men from past encounters with conflict—such as Martial Law—are likely to drive them into “folds of rebel formations” such as the Moro National Liberation Front.
Veneraction-Rallonza also shared that a survivor’s admission of their sexual violence experience in a Palimbang Massacre documentary took her by surprise. “[…] It was something that she admitted to…openly in the video…it was [part] of a community experience of a collective trauma,” she recounted.
Due to the dominance of male voices in policy-making discussions, female narratives were only uncovered in women-exclusive forums that were guided by trained female facilitators. To this end, transitional justice can be attained not only by acknowledging gender differences and cultural barriers, but also through developing gender-sensitive programs geared towards Bangsamoro communities’ healing.
Weaving perspectives
The recommendations and female narratives gathered through the TJRC’s listening processes contributed to the National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security (NAPWPS)—specifically, the NAPWPS’ protection of women in armed conflict and its participation in peace-building initiatives. In line with this, gender perspective integration in transitional justice continues through recent efforts from both the government and civil society.
In the hopes of securing transitional justice in the BARMM, a re-filed House Bill 4003 awaits passage and hopes to pave the way for a National Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission for the Bangsamoro. Formerly House Bill 5669, House Bill 4003 was lauded for its inclusion of women in developing transitional justice interventions. However, the bill has not moved past the Special Committee on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity as of writing.In October, the Ateneo Political Science Department launched a project entitled “Surfacing Narratives Towards Transitional Justice in the North and South: Weaving Women’s Voices–A Memory Project in Aid of Developing Transitional Justice Interventions.” The 20 month-long project, which received a grant from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, aims to aid in creating “gender-sensitive transitional justice mechanisms” by highlighting the experiences of Filipino women under conflict. Through this and other efforts, the voices of female survivors and leaders will find their way into renewed narratives of justice.
