Filipino women and girls, who survived violence and discrimination in different spaces, take center stage in an exhibit at SM North EDSA — launched Friday by the United Nations Philippines, in collaboration with the Philippine Commission on Women and SM Supermalls, as part of the celebration of Women’s Month.

Dr. Leila Saiji Joudane, UN Population Fund country representative and chair of the gender theme group, said the audio-visual exhibit “Walk in Her Shoes” contains stories of Filipino women and girls who endured violence.

“The theme of this campaign is ‘Walk in Her Shoes.’ Why did we choose this title? Because we have here five stories that women are telling us, women who were survivors of gender-based violence,” Joudane told the DAILY TRIBUNE.

She said the exhibit tells different stories — from young adolescent girls who were sexually harassed online, women who were displaced during humanitarian crises, women employees in a workplace who faced discrimination and violence, to stories of migrants and house help.

“These are a few examples of survivors. We have many examples in every space — at home, in the public space, at work, when we are moving from one place to another. So everywhere, women and girls, including the LGBTQI population, are facing discrimination and violence,” she said, referring to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning (one’s sexual or gender identity), and intersex community.

Meanwhile, UN Philippines Resident Coordinator Gustavo Gonzales said that violence against women is a problem that is present everywhere, and it is not only affecting the dignity of women and girls but also their personal development.

“This is a serious problem that we have in many societies. In the case of the Philippines, around 18 percent of women and girls between 15 and 49 years old are affected by some types of violence. It could be physical violence, psychological, emotional, or sexual,” he told Daily Tribune.

In 2023, the Philippines progressed after ranking 16th out of 146 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index Report of the World Economic Forum (WEF). It ranked 19th the previous year.

“The Philippines has achieved 79.1 percent gender parity and ranks 16th globally. Despite an improvement of three positions and 0.88 percentage points since last year, this is only a partial recovery towards its 2018 parity level (79.9percent),” the WEF report said.

The gender equality ranking surveys countries’ gender gaps across economic, education, health, and political leadership lines.