= The SIBOL Framework ne on Women’s Reproductive Heolth and Rights Sexuolity and Violence Against Women Published by the Women’s Education, Development, Productivity and Research Organization (WEDPRO), Inc. for the Sama-samang Inisyatiba ng Kababaihan sa Pagbabago ng Batas at Lipunan (SIBOL) ‘supported by United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA)“Over the years and in shifing coalitions, Marxists, Cetholics, Western liberals, Reagan conservatives and many others have locked horns over the answer fo, these questions, But whoever has prevailed at any one time and in any one place, the resultant policies have too often continued fo leave women withou! any say, even about matters that affect their lives as intimately and powerfully as sexuality and procreation.” [Sen ef al, 1994] mse cognizance of the “third world” situation of the Philippines and reflecting on the poor communities of women to whom the coalition members direct their programs and services, SIBOL has agreed to utilize womens health as a conceptual framework, asserting that the reproductive health framework is too limited, as it narrows down women as reproducers within the context of the domestic / pri- vate sphere. The reproductive health framework also strongly posits women as mothers, and therefore Section eS glosses over the many realities of SIBOL’S CONCEPTUAL women. In this process, it further FRAMEWORK ON marginalizes women in terms of their sexuality and the myriad possibilities WOMEN’S HEALTH that women can potentially aspire to. ‘A women’s health framework looks at health from a woman-centered and gender fair perspective, i.e. that women 2 and men have power differentials in nearly all spheres oflife—socio-cultural, political and economic. tt considers health a women’s human rights issue. It AY A utilizes a life cycle approach, ie. that ad, women face health concerns at different =| stages of their lives —from childhood to adulthood to their mature years. It pro- motes empowerment in the context of development, ic. a context within the TZ development agenda ofthe State and the limitations that such an agenda pro- motes. This strategic empowerment ad- dresses as well the need for ajust and humane society where genuine partnership between women and men are exercised and guaranteed byallinstitutions,and subscribed to by all its citizens. The following discussions, while divided into subtopics, necessar- ily overlap in many instances. Any discussion on women's health and rights, reproductive health, sexuality and violence against women, from a feminist or pro-women perspective, presupposes the dynamic link- ages among these issues, and while an attempt to separate them in this instance is made, this is more an attempt towards hopefully sharp- Ns 21ening our analytical framework on each item, while at the same time, making the concrete links among them. Undoubtedly, this is a difficult task, but nevertheless necessary towards achieving some basic unities towards future actions, particularly in the area of agenda setting for legislative advocacy. DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTS One of the confusing elements in the discussion on women's health is the tendency to use the terms interchangeably. Such a tendency actu- ally comes from a host of reasons, one of which can be attributed to a tactical need to raise controversial issues, such as abortion, without the risk of identifying oneself with a stance, especially perhaps with the pro-choice in a hostile environment. The other possible reason is the lack of a deeper understanding of the conceptual and historical differences of the terms, such as reproductive health, women's health, reproductive rights. The recently concluded Consultative Fora Il sponsored by the In- stitute for Social Studies and Action (ISSA) for SIBOL gave a clear in- dication of such a confusion, The commonplace but narrowed down understanding of reproductive health as merely addressing fertility management, or the biased perception that reproductive health and rights actually refer to or promotes a pro-abortion stance, emanate from the historical roots of the advocacy of Filipino feminists and health activists around the issues of population policies and what could have beena pro-choice constitution of the land. It was with the direct inter- actions of the women’s movements all over the world and especially those women from countries in the South, that the clarity began to be made by the women themselves, and from there brought on to bear on the mainstream discourse. Increasing debates and a growing body of research in the country have marked the importance as well as the need to broaden the meaning of ‘reproduction! and including such is- sues as reproductive tract infections/sexually transmitted diseases, ado- lescent sexuality, violence against women, along with the traditional nuances given to reproduction. (Rivera et al,, 1997] Since the 1970s and especially in the 1980s, the concept of repro- ductive health was broadened by no less than women themselves in various parts of the world who had organized themselves to exchange experiences and to understand women’s concerns around the issues of population and development. As one study pointed out, “the picture of the health situation and reproductive rights of women in the Philip- 22 LOOKING i The SEO Farwvodk Ppa on Manas Reproductive Heh and Rights, Sexvalty and Vilence Ageia! Wemen