Study on cultural, gender barriers presented

HUNGDUAN, Ifugao -- As the world celebrates Women’s Month, 1,000 women throughout the province converged here on March 11 to celebrate and at the same time to hold their annual assembly.

Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officer (PSWDO) Joyce Niwane said one of the major activities is the presentation of the study on the identification of cultural and gender related barriers on the utilization of services of skilled birth attendants and facility-based delivery.

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The study which was conducted in the 11 municipalities here shows how young mothers were able to deal with the situation of having children at a young age while not having a stable job.

The survey also documented the cultural beliefs and practices in the province on pregnant women and child delivery.

With the theme, “Babae Tagumpay ka ng Bayan,” the said assembly is in compliance to the Presidential Proclamation No. 116 declaring the first week of March as Women’s Day.

Niwane disclosed that among the concerns the women are facing were the following: wife battering, incest rape, and gender violence.

It was only when we had been conducting activities on women’s rights that some of them had the courage to come out into the open to share their grievances, she said. (Vency D. Bulayungan)