Nature is often characterized as a female figure. For one, we often dub it as “Mother Nature” in books, essays, and the likes. It comes not much of a surprise, for the similarities between them are striking: gentle, life-giving, charming, and unpredictable, on one hand, and abused by patriarchal social structures, such as hunting, domesticity, and exploitation, on the other.
This concept of feminism and environmentalism combined was coined by French feminist Françoise d’Eaubonne in 1974 as “ecofeminism,” an ideology and movement that emphasizes the role of masculine dominance, which sprung from global prioritization of dominance and aggression, in society, relating it to climate change, gender equality, and social injustice as intrinsically related issues.
An example of ecofeminism at play is the prevalent gender-based violence experienced by women in cities due to poor urban planning. From an environmental standpoint, the inadequate infrastructures, poor health services, and unsafe housing in densely populated areas create a plethora of environmental problems such as poor solid waste management, autoimmune diseases, and water pollution.
These problems are likely to make women more vulnerable to prejudice and violence, especially in urban slums.
Poor urban planning exacerbates gender-based violence and discrimination in a sense that this is also a poverty issue. The environmental concerns that come along with incompetent planning have forced women to resort to engaging in undertakings that compromise their character, such as prostitution and other similar activities, in order to survive.
The issues also manifest in the nature of affairs in cities. Activities spawned by urban setting heighten sexual violence—partying, alcohol, and drugs pervasive in sex tourist destinations, aggravated by poverty, permit the existence of an industry which perpetuates economic, social, and physical vulnerability among women. Moreover, urban poverty, makeshift dwellings, gang violence, low-quality sanitary facilities, widespread sale of alcohol, and lack of street lighting in secluded areas induce crime and violence like burglary, rape, and theft among women without protection.
Nonetheless, feminism as a movement has been instrumental in empowering women turn problems around them, such as poverty and pollution, into livelihood opportunities and leadership roles in advocating for environmental justice.
The women of BASECO, a community group, have lived up to this. The group has been committed to reducing water pollution by conducting livelihood programs, such as its handloom weaving program wherein participants turn water hyacinth plants in Pasig River, which obstruct the waterways, into handloom products and other handicrafts.
The group’s leader, Aling Lyn, also shared that her leadership role in its livelihood program gave her a sense of pride and fulfillment as a woman and as a mother. The program afforded her the convenience and flexibility of not having to neglect her motherly duties while at work. Despite her family’s condition in the slums, she, along with her husband, was able to pool income for the first time. The program has also inspired her to do more for her family.
The interplay between feminism and environmental justice in the case of BASECO women, as like other initiatives, is almost divine; it breathes new hope and better conditions for women and mother nature alike.
Notably, however, without the support from the legislature, livelihood programs will just remain a movement, which, no matter how noble, will never be a system. Legislative action is called on to support sustainability. As of writing, we still have no law that will give backbone and lifeblood to social enterprises. It is difficult to comprehend the reason for this neglect, and missed opportunities to uplift our women from poverty and abusive conditions, and to empower them to take proactive roles in our society.
But, we do not lose hope. The movement has started.
THE BARRISTER 