InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines - In a bid to end electronic violence against women (EVAW) the Gabriela Women’s party-list is spreading “Scandal,” asking Netizens to append the word to their account names, especially on Facebook.
Gabriela Representatives Emmi de Jesus and Luzviminda Ilagan, who launched the campaign at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in support the “Bury the Past Project,” said adding “Scandal” to account names is intended to disrupt Internet search engines when users try to look up so-called “sex scandal” videos.
Ilagan, in a statement, said they hope to end “violence against women, prostitution and pornography in the high-tech world.”
“Women are being gang raped, harassed, prostituted and violated with just a click of the mouse,” she said. “The proliferation of scandals that shame and destroy the lives and reputation of women is alarming and it should stop.”
The Gabriela solons have filed bills to amend Republic Acts 9262, or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act, and 8353, or the Anti-Rape Law, to include as aggravating circumstances the recording and dissemination of the offenses covered by the statutes.
De Jesus, for her part, urged vigilance and responsible Internet use.
"Let us be careful with what we post, what we click and what we like," she said.
A video ad campaign against EVAW created by advertising agency DM9JaymeSyfu was also unveiled at the PUP forum, which had a standing room only crowd.
The video campaign invites viewers to pledge to join the campaign and can be accessed www.fightevaw.com-pledge.
It features a naked woman covered in bruises and hugging herself. The campaign then invites netizens logged into Facebook to literally lend their name to the campaign against EVAW.
When the “pledge” button is clicked, the bruises turn into a montage of portraits. Clicking on one of the bruises then directs the user to the Facebook login page of the anti-EVAW campaign.
Users can also watch the video “Hits,” which was created for the campaign.
Mico Quiogue, DM9JaymeSyfu associate creative director, said with the proliferation of the “Scandal” surname to Facebook accounts, they hope to bury sex scandal videos in search engine results.
