Vision
A Philippine Society free of prejudice, bias, hate and violence against LGBT People.
The Philippine LGBT Hate Crime Watch is committed to defend the lives, safety, and security of LGBT people from hate, prejudice and bias through participatory action research, education, legislative advocacy and networking.
Goals:
- To increase the number of LGBT people in the Philippines who are aware of the dangers of hate crimes.
- To establish a unified and organized community that actively advocates against hate crimes.
- To sustain a legislative advocacy to influence state and non-state actors to establish mechanisms to combat hate crimes.
- To increase online membership by 300% in the next year.
- To establish and sustain a well-represented and diverse volunteer base.
- To create a credible and accessible database on hate crimes in the Philippines.
- To build capacity on research, education, and advocacy
Current Organizational Members:
- Ladlad Party-list
- Queer Pagan Network
- Amnesty International – Philippines
- Rainbow Rights Project Inc.
- Metropolitan Community Church - Quezon City
- Gabriela Women’s Party
- Pro-Gay Philippines
- Institute for Social Studies and Action
- Akei
- Leyte Gay Association
- Bayan Muna Partylist
- EngendeRights
- WomenLead
The Philippine LGBT Hate Crime Watch is:
- An inclusive, diverse, non-partisan, community-oriented group of individuals and organizations who strive to defend the lives, safety, and security of LGBT people from Anti-LGBT hate, prejudice, bias, and violence.
- Seeking to expand its membership and foster an activist community through social media advocacy, once-a-month open-invite gatherings, and once-a-month visitations of LGBT Rights Organizations and LGBT Community Organizations
- Going to capacitate Members (new and old) on hate crime and other LGBT Rights issues through the online channels:
(by fostering online discussion)
(by disseminating studies and reading materials)
(by disseminating information and announcement through micro-blogging)
d. And through the gatherings and visitations by discussing local LGBT rights issues,
Human Rights frameworks, and crowd-sourcing feasible, community-oriented
solutions in fighting Anti-LGBT prejudice, bias, hate and violence.
- Aiming to break the silence and apathy towards LGBT Rights issues through its social media advocacy and the informal gatherings it shall conduct on a regular basis
- Looking into launching formal projects through the aide and partnership of its CSO member and allies that focus on innovative activities to: strengthen local, national and international networks for LGBT Rights Defenders and Organizations; mainstream International Human Rights frameworks in local activism; and developing comprehensive advocacy plans for the establishment , implementation and maintenance of state and non-state mechanisms and remedies that promote, protect, respect and fulfill the Human Rights of LGBT People.
The Philippine LGBT Hate Crime Watch Defines (LGBT-targeted) Hate Crimes as:
When we say “crime” it would mean any criminal offense or violation as per national laws and the internationally signed Human Rights Conventions, Standards, and Commitments. It must also involve the following:
- The victim is a member or perceived member of the LGBT Community, or is associated with the LGBT community.
- There is an element of prejudice (even in intimate and family relationships)
We based our definitions on:
The British Model:
UK’s Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) definition of hate crime. It is: ‘any hate incident, which constitutes a criminal offence, perceived by the victim or any other person as being motivated by prejudice or hate’. A hate incident is defined as ‘any incident, which may or may not constitute a criminal offence, which is perceived by the victim or any other person as being motivated by prejudice or hate’.
The American Model:
U.S. Department of Justice Training Guide for Hate Crime Data Collection defines these crimes as a criminal offense committed against a person or property which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnicity/national origin, or sexual-orientation.
The European Model
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights’ publication, Preventing and responding to hate crimes, defines Hate Crimes as:
a. an act that constitutes an offence under criminal law; and
b. in committing the crime, the perpetrator acts on the basis of prejudice or bias.Perpetrators of
such crimes select their victims because of their prejudice or bias, or otherwise termed as
negative opinions, intolerance or hatred towards any of the following characteristics: race,
ethnicity, language, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity or other status.
Challenges for the Anti-Hate Crime Advocacy in the Philippines:
a. Because of Apathy, prejudice , bias, acts of discrimination and violence towards LGBT People born out of bigotry goes un-noticed.
b.There are no coordinated and comprehensive state and non-state mechanisms that measure the nature, occurrence, variation, and extent of Anti-LGBT prejudice, bias, and violence.
Taken together this means:
a. Many LGBT people themselves are not aware of their Human Rights and does not recognize that many
of the social, political and economic problems they face are born out of anti-LGBT prejudice and bias.
b. Many LGBT Filipinos are not actively advocating against anti-LGBT Prejudice, bias, and violence.
c. There are no current mechanisms, attuned to Philippine Social, Cultural, and Political Realities, to study,
identify, prevent, and resolve Hate Crime.
THE BEGINNING:
The Philippine LGBT Hate Crime Watch is an independent advocacy spearheaded by Marlon Toledo Lacsamana and Reighben Earl Wysten Mendoza Labilles. Since October 2009, Marlon started collecting news stories and emailed/messaged accounts of LGBT Filipinos who were killed. Reighben, since May 2011, has taken charge of improving Marlon’s initial database and providing angles of analyses not previously explored on the reported cases of LGBT Filipinos who were murdered.
The Watch is a coalition of individual advocates and organizations, started from a facebook group, that blossomed into a young advocacy. Due to the advice, guidance, and voluntary support of seasoned advocates and organizations from the field of Human Rights Advocacy in the Philippines such as: Ging Cristobal of IGLHRC, Atty. Angie Umbac of Rainbow Rights, Atty. Clara Rita Padilla of EngendeRights, Atty. Germaine Leonin, Oscar Atadero, Ron De Vera of Amnesty International, Alvin Dakis of the Rainbow Nightingales Project, Renier Bona of TLF-SHARE, Reign Naldoza of Pink Butterfly Brigade, Mario Balibago of Y-Peer, Lady Lisondra, Nex Benas of Akei, Pol Cabalfin of the Queer Pagan Network, MCCQC, LADLAD, ISSA and WGNRR, the documentation and analyses of the cases constantly evolve while the advocacy means and goals are continuously being refined. Their presence, support, and contribution to the Watch is what made this advocacy possible.
The participation of more individuals within the LGBT Filipino Community who came forward with their own stories of LGBT Filipinos being killed within their locality continuously increase the number of cases being presented in the datasheet. Individuals who volunteer to translate local news reports into english and tagalog were essential in pointing out the incidence of murdered LGBT Filipinos from the provinces.
The goal of this advocacy is to uncover the nature of Anti-LGBT prejudice in the Philippines and how that translates to discrimination and violent crimes against LGBT Filipinos. Foreign studies on Hate Crimes and Prejudice are now being analyzed on how they can serve as a framework in studying the occurence of Anti-LGBT prejudice and Hate Crimes in the Philippines.
Ultimately, the advocacy will blossom into a national campaign that will clamor for justice for the LGBT Filipinos who were slain. It will also push for legislative solutions to end discrimination and hate crime on all fronts. And finally, it will coordinate massive grassroots campaigns against homophobia and transphobia in the Philippines.
philippinelgbthatecrimewatch.blogspot.com
