IN commemoration of International Working Women’s Day, we join millions of working women worldwide in calling to end all forms of violence against women, particularly those sanctioned and perpetrated by men in uniform.

For the first three years of the Duterte administration, NUPL women lawyers have earned the ire of the President and his henchmen for prosecuting cases of human rights violations.

They, together with other NUPL members, have been arbitrarily tagged as “protectors of terrorists” by State agents, as they represent the interests of human rights defenders, peasants, workers, indigenous peoples, and those belonging to the marginalized sectors.

After being red-tagged, they are either hailed to the courts on fabricated criminal charges or are targeted at gunpoint. Worse, no one is held to account for these violations.

Amidst these relentless attacks, NUPL women lawyers vow to continue their advocacy of defending human rights and exacting accountability for the authors and mastermind of these rights violations, a duty they have sworn to protect and uphold before Lady Justice and before the people. (By National Union of People’s Lawyers)