Females with male minds? Women leaders slam CA ruling on Smith
MANILA, Philippines - Could it be lack of sympathy for their own kind?
Female leaders from the government and civil society groups have slammed the decision of the all-women Special Eleventh Division of the Court of Appeals (CA) acquitting US serviceman Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith of the crime of rape.
CA justices on Monday defended their ruling reversing the Makati Regional Trial Court’s ruling that convicted Smith for raping Suzette Nicolas a.k.a. Nicole in Subic, Zambales in November 2005.
"Our decision speaks for itself. We’re proud of it. [It was] based on the law, the facts, and our conscience. We cannot add anything more," said Associate Justice Monina Arevalo-Zenarosa in an interview with GMA News.
"Our decision was based on factual and legal circumstances. No pressure at all," echoed Associate Justice Myrna Dimaranan-Vidal in a separate interview.
Women with male minds
But the women leaders said the justices could have been more “sensitive" to Nicole’s plight.
"Even if they are women, they are women with male minds. The call for gender sensitivity in women in the judiciary is very valid," Corazon “Dinky" Soliman, former social welfare secretary told GMANews.TV in a recent interview.
According to Soliman, Nicolas' March 12, 2009 affidavit doubting that she was raped by Smith could have had an effect in the justices’ decision even though the magistrates said the sworn statement was not considered in the CA’s ruling.
"This is to me is part of the challenge of women who are fighting for their rights, to act and present their sexuality without being accused of seducing people to do wrong on them," said Soliman.
Gabriela party-list Rep. Liza Maza agrees, saying that the CA’s “all-female division has committed a grave injustice to Filipino women in overturning the conviction of Smith."
“This is highly deplorable and their distorted vision branding the Nicole rape case as spontaneous, unplanned, romantic episode is painfully twisted," Maza said in a separate interview with GMANews.TV.
Gender insensitivity
Akbayan party-list Rep. Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel said the fact that the justices were women made the court's decision even more "heart-breaking."
Hontiveros told GMANews.TV that the decision showed that gender sensitivity in the judiciary "needed boosting."
Leah Navarro, convenor of the Black and White Movement, said the CA's ruling had cast doubt on the ability of the Philippine government to protect its own citizens.
"Hindi nila ginamit na basehan yung ginawang recantation ni Nicole. But I cannot imagine how they as women, whether or not may recantation si Nicole, could see that as a non-rape. I don't know kaninong side ba sila, sa ating kababaihan ba o sa panig ba sila ng mga nagsasabi na paanuhin mo na yan para matapos na yan?" she said in a recent telephone interview with GMANews.TV.
[They did not use the supposed recantation of 'Nicole' but I cannot imagine how they as women, whether or not Nicole recanted, could see that as a non-rape. I don't know which side they are on, are they on the side of women or are they siding with those who want the case dismissed just so the issue will be finished?]
Gender myths
For its part, the Women’s Legal Bureau (WLB) claimed that the CA ruling on Smith was not the first time that “gender myths that discriminate against women" were used as bases of legal decisions.
Mae Buenaventura, WLB executive director, said her group had called the Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women to act on rape cases that were decided based on said myths.
Buenaventura said the myths include views “that for a rape victim to be believed, she must be able to show resistance, and that she should have made all attempts to escape."
“When resistance is nearer the point of death, the higher the credibility of the rape victim-survivor," she said in recent a statement sent to GMANews.TV.
“The callous dismissal of Nicole’s narrative as fanciful, as a mere romantic episode, as a way of getting back at Smith – all arguments of the defense – also promotes yet another sexist view of women as vengeful, capricious, and supposedly can, on a whim, easily charge rape. There are also gender-based stereotypes, arbitrarily picked out by the CA justices and now held up as true for all – such as how provinciana lasses should act, and how intoxicated Filipino girls commonly behave," added Buenaventura. - GMANews.TV
Female leaders from the government and civil society groups have slammed the decision of the all-women Special Eleventh Division of the Court of Appeals (CA) acquitting US serviceman Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith of the crime of rape.
CA justices on Monday defended their ruling reversing the Makati Regional Trial Court’s ruling that convicted Smith for raping Suzette Nicolas a.k.a. Nicole in Subic, Zambales in November 2005.
"Our decision speaks for itself. We’re proud of it. [It was] based on the law, the facts, and our conscience. We cannot add anything more," said Associate Justice Monina Arevalo-Zenarosa in an interview with GMA News.
"Our decision was based on factual and legal circumstances. No pressure at all," echoed Associate Justice Myrna Dimaranan-Vidal in a separate interview.
Women with male minds
But the women leaders said the justices could have been more “sensitive" to Nicole’s plight.
"Even if they are women, they are women with male minds. The call for gender sensitivity in women in the judiciary is very valid," Corazon “Dinky" Soliman, former social welfare secretary told GMANews.TV in a recent interview.
According to Soliman, Nicolas' March 12, 2009 affidavit doubting that she was raped by Smith could have had an effect in the justices’ decision even though the magistrates said the sworn statement was not considered in the CA’s ruling.
"This is to me is part of the challenge of women who are fighting for their rights, to act and present their sexuality without being accused of seducing people to do wrong on them," said Soliman.
Gabriela party-list Rep. Liza Maza agrees, saying that the CA’s “all-female division has committed a grave injustice to Filipino women in overturning the conviction of Smith."
“This is highly deplorable and their distorted vision branding the Nicole rape case as spontaneous, unplanned, romantic episode is painfully twisted," Maza said in a separate interview with GMANews.TV.
Gender insensitivity
Akbayan party-list Rep. Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel said the fact that the justices were women made the court's decision even more "heart-breaking."
Hontiveros told GMANews.TV that the decision showed that gender sensitivity in the judiciary "needed boosting."
Leah Navarro, convenor of the Black and White Movement, said the CA's ruling had cast doubt on the ability of the Philippine government to protect its own citizens.
"Hindi nila ginamit na basehan yung ginawang recantation ni Nicole. But I cannot imagine how they as women, whether or not may recantation si Nicole, could see that as a non-rape. I don't know kaninong side ba sila, sa ating kababaihan ba o sa panig ba sila ng mga nagsasabi na paanuhin mo na yan para matapos na yan?" she said in a recent telephone interview with GMANews.TV.
[They did not use the supposed recantation of 'Nicole' but I cannot imagine how they as women, whether or not Nicole recanted, could see that as a non-rape. I don't know which side they are on, are they on the side of women or are they siding with those who want the case dismissed just so the issue will be finished?]
Gender myths
For its part, the Women’s Legal Bureau (WLB) claimed that the CA ruling on Smith was not the first time that “gender myths that discriminate against women" were used as bases of legal decisions.
Mae Buenaventura, WLB executive director, said her group had called the Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women to act on rape cases that were decided based on said myths.
Buenaventura said the myths include views “that for a rape victim to be believed, she must be able to show resistance, and that she should have made all attempts to escape."
“When resistance is nearer the point of death, the higher the credibility of the rape victim-survivor," she said in recent a statement sent to GMANews.TV.
“The callous dismissal of Nicole’s narrative as fanciful, as a mere romantic episode, as a way of getting back at Smith – all arguments of the defense – also promotes yet another sexist view of women as vengeful, capricious, and supposedly can, on a whim, easily charge rape. There are also gender-based stereotypes, arbitrarily picked out by the CA justices and now held up as true for all – such as how provinciana lasses should act, and how intoxicated Filipino girls commonly behave," added Buenaventura. - GMANews.TV
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