Protektahan an bayong na baji. In line with the ongoing talks about the case of the flight attendant’s death during the New Year’s Eve party in a hotel in Makati City, a hashtag circulated in the social media sites which became the talk of the town when 2021 was ushered in. PROTECT DRUNK GIRLS seemed to be all over the media platforms which sometimes bring confusion to some.
Athena Presto posted her opinion on Rappler: The pushback against victim-blaming is a moral imperative. The reminder that getting drunk does not equate to consent can never be overstated – especially in a country where many use the idea of sexual harassment to tell women to cover up. However, we also need to remind each other to resist in a way that doesn't box women into being passive victims needing protection.
Women are not special beings that need to be shielded. Protecting women, especially in a patronizing and infantilizing way, distracts us from recognizing that women are human beings deserving of respect just like everyone else — drunk or otherwise.
Getting drunk is the decision of a person. Gone are the days when we blame peer pressure or whatever justifications that we have. It is the person who puts the alcohol in his/her body and most of the time not at gunpoint. It was scientifically proven that too much consumption of alcohol can either make one do unthinkable things due to intoxication. Thus, the mandate came to put labels on alcoholic beverages to “drink moderately” which later evolved to “drink responsibly”.
Both men and women are at risk of the dangers of being intoxicated by alcohol. It can produce detectable impairments in memory after only a few drinks and, as the amount of alcohol increases, so does the degree of impairment. Large quantities of alcohol, especially when consumed quickly and on an empty stomach, can produce a blackout, or an interval of time for which the intoxicated person cannot recall key details of events, or even entire events. This is according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
The campaign to “protect drunk girls” seem to romanticize getting drunk. According to startuprecovery.com, there can be any number of reasons that someone can begin to romanticize their time with alcohol. Going to the bar to blow off steam and constant advertisements tying alcohol’s use to happy, social gatherings, there can be many ways to receive mixed signals about drinking, even after they have experienced the highly destructive side of alcohol.
The long history of colonialism has embedded a patriarchal culture among Filipinos. The conception of women as full-time homemakers, as subordinated to men, violence against them is private, as reserve labor force, and as sexual objects is now being eroded by modern women asserting themselves in many aspects of life. But on the other hand, some are either marginalized, discriminated, or even exploited by the harsh realities of global economy and consumerism (Anonuevo, 2000).
Although the patriarchal culture persists, we now understand equality on both sexes. The 1987 Constitution states a prominent provision. The first in the Declaration of Principles Article II Section 14 asserted that "The State recognizes the role of women in nation-building and shall ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men."
We need to frame sexual violence as something done by criminals than something that just happens to women. Taking the perpetrators out of the conversation makes it harder for us to demand accountability and justice. It has been more of "she was raped" than "they raped her" or "teach your daughter to say no" than "teach your sons that no means no." Reminding girls to stay safe is an inadequate response vis-à-vis clear manifestations of who we should be dealing with (Presto, 2020).
In management, Root cause analysis (RCA) is a systematic process for identifying “root causes” of problems or events and an approach for responding to them. RCA is based on the basic idea that effective management requires more than merely “putting out fires” for problems that develop, but finding a way to prevent them. In cases similar to the much-discussed one over the flight attendant, we can see irresponsible drinking as the main culprit. Again, this writer does not blame the victim but the root of the problem. In excess, everything can be dangerous.
We can stop romanticizing alcohol intoxication.
So what then? Vince Ferreras of CNN Philippines reported on January 7, 2021: Four of flight attendant Christine Dacera's friends, who were also respondents in her case, recalled their final hours with her while celebrating New Year's Eve in a Makati hotel. In a press conference on Thursday, the respondents reiterated their innocence, saying Christine died of natural causes.
There are “unknown” and unpublished attacks on women, boys and children. These violent acts decompose the core of our society.
[Violence], says Rappler, happens to women because they are continuously rendered weak, no matter the circumstance. Fighting sexual violence does not need any qualifier — not drunk, not naked, not alone — especially when qualifiers contribute to the stigma against women who are independent and do not conform to gender norms.
Violence must not be treated indifferently. And all of us must be protected from it.
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