NDP MLA condemns violence against Filipino women

VICTORIA - NDP MLA for Burnaby Edmonds, Raj Chouhan called upon all legislators to join him in condemning the systemic racism, discrimination and harassment that Filipino women are facing in B.C.

Chouhan, the NDP critic for Human Rights and Multiculturalism rose in the legislature today to highlight the growing incidents of violence against Filipino women in Lower Mainland.

"Over the past several decades Filipino women have been subject to systemic racism and discrimination, harassment, and senseless fatal attacks which has effected the entire Filipino community and I call upon my colleagues in the house to condemn all forms of violence against Filipino women," said Chouhan.

Chouhan had the privilege of attending an event at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Vancouver last month where he heard from scores of women who talked about their personal experiences with violence and vulnerability.

The event was organized to engage the audience in a dialogue about the experiences of marginalized women and to engage in critical thinking about possible solutions to eliminate discrimination and violence against women in the Filipino community.

"I commend the efforts of the organizers of the event who are trying their best to promote equality and achieve social justice for those Filipino women who have suffered violence here in Canada. I call upon all communities to come together to eradicate the scourge of discrimination and violence against women," said Chouhan

Filipinos are now the fourth largest visible minority community in Canada and the third in BC. Seventy per cent of the people leaving the Philippines daily to work abroad are women. Nearly 100,000 Filipinos, mostly women, have come to Canada under the Foreign Domestic Movement and the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP).