ZAMBOANGA CITY, Mar 4 (PIA) – Commission on Human Rights (CHR IX) emphasizes that protecting the women’s rights also involves empowerment on societal aspects or educating the people surrounding women.

Atty. Bensaud Degusman of CHR IX said during the Kapihan na Zamboanga at SM City Mindpro that since the 2017 during the celebration of Women’s Month, there has been a lot of changes with regards to interaction and empowerment of women.

“Before, the focus has been empowerment of women, but now less on the women but more on societal aspect of it,” he said.

CHR IX together with other government agencies continues to advocate and strengthen women’s rights. However, CHR IX also focused in empowering not just the women but all members and sectors of the society to be informed in protecting the rights of the women.

“We also need to educate people surrounding women as they are supposed to protect their own rights,” Atty. Degusman said.

Women empowerment advocacy continues, especially during the pandemic where CHR IX still receives concerns on violence against women. The commission considers the pandemic and economic factors as the current main contributors to violence against women.