29 December 2014 - Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah on November 25 held activities in observance of the National Consciousness Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Children pursuant to R.A. No. 10398 and in support of the Philippine Commission on Women’s (PCW) 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women and Children.

The activities consisted of a lecture and a film-showing on “Violence Against Women and Children” which was delivered by Philippine Consulate General’s Social Welfare Attaché Josephine A. Arang. To fortify the understanding of the attendees of the subject of the lecture, it was interspersed with a “Powerwalk” exercise in which the participants were made to identify the aspects of empowerment of genders in the context of specific roles in society, and “Gender-based Violence Tree” presentation, in relation to which the participants were made aware of the various categories of gender-based violence: (e.g. sexual, physical, emotional and psychological, socio-economic), harmful traditional practices, female genital mutilation and child marriage.

After the lecture, the attendees were requested to evaluate the activity on the basis of what they learned from it and how they feel after having been clarified on issues concerning violence against women and children, which impact on them. A majority rated their experience in the activity as “satisfactory.”

A film showing followed the lecture featured “Girl, Boy, Bakla, Tomboy,” a 2013 Filipino comedy parody film produced by Star Cinema which won the 2013 Metro Manila Film Festival Award for Most Gender-Sensitive Film as it raised awareness on gender equality concerns.