Section 3 - Educating and Partnering for CEDAW

of respondents who agreed that “Rape should have remained a crime against
chastity.”
More importantly, students’ appreciation of CEDAW integration also improved.
After the revised courses were tried out, more students accepted the inclusion of
women’s rights in undergraduate courses. In the Rizal P.I. 100 course, 84 percent
of the students agreed that women’s rights be included and discussed in class, a
significant increase from the 9 percent recorded in the pre-test at the beginning
of the semester.
Pay it forward: Feedback and validation activities
Professors, who carried out these classes in their respective universities, later
shared their experiences in feedback activities organized by UPCWS. In October
2006, a feedback forum was held at the University of the Philippines Mindanao.
Prof. Anne Shangrila Fuentes of UP Mindanao, one of the professors who tried to
integrate CEDAW, shared her experience teaching her “revised” course on Rizal’s
life, work and writings.
As she discussed Rizal’s novels in class, Fuentes was able to facilitate discussion
around pertinent articles and principles of CEDAW. Rizal’s novels served as a
backdrop to engage students regarding discrimination of women in political and
public life (Articles 7-9), discrimination in employment (Article 11), health care,
including reproductive health (Article 12); discrimination of women in rural areas
(Article 14), marriage and family (Article 16) and violence against women (RA
9262).
Also, Fuentes used Rizal’s “A Letter to the Young Women of Malolos” as a pivot
for discussing discrimination in education (Article 10) as well as different strands
of feminism.
At the Davao Forum. From left: Dr. Carol
Sobritchea, then UPCWS Executive Director;
a representative from Pangasinan State
University; and Dr. Fe Andico, Director of PSU
Gender Studies.
Prof. Anne Shangrila Fuentes, Coordinator
of the UP Mindanao University Gender
Committee.
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