Vulnerability: The Role of Gender Definitions and Perceptions

The presentations from Vietnam, the Philippines and Bangladesh discussed challenging the gender-based expectations from women in these countries. These respective countries have a few on-going programs to empower women,however, they have a daunting task in changing men's perception about women's role in society. Talking about sex and sexuality is a taboo for women in Vietnam, and if some women do talk about it, they are labelled as bad women. Likewise, in Bangladesh, the migrant women workers are branded as "bad" women who are willing to have sex with anybody and everybody. The cultural norms and mores are still strong in most societies in this region, and it governs and guides a man's and a woman's action and behaviour. It was reiterated again that women in the region had almost no, or at best, poor negotiation skills where safe sex was concerned. For instance, the wives' of seafarers in the Philippines could not negotiate safe sex when their spouses returned from their journeys, rendering them vulnerable to STDs/STIs and HIV/AIDS. Vietnam has integrated gender perspectives and gender sensitive training programs into their HIV/AIDS prevention and sexual health youth peer education project. This project enables young women to express their ideas and thoughts in a safe and non-judgmental environment in an open forum and men listen to these talks. This participatory, interactive method has allowed for participants to talk and listen to each other, thus enabling changes in their behaviour and attitude towards women.

Similarly, the project in the Philippines has enabled the spouses of the seafarers to be assertive, and to negotiate safe sex practices. Some of these workshops have also included men. Unskilled, semi-skilled female labour migration from resource poor settings to industrialised countries in this region has escalated in the last decade. Feminisation of migration is a reality now, and women are thus exposed to the risk of contracting various STDs/STIs and HIV/AIDS because of their vulnerable position in the receiving & also sending countries. Women are stuck with negative images in most of the countries in this region, and apparently innate bias exists against women.The gender climate too is not conducive to their rights, therefore in such a climate, gender sensitive policies and laws are required to protect women's interests. For this broader social structural changes are needed, both in terms of education and behaviour, programs and policies. All agencies need to work together to bring about a change and the media has to play an important and major role in changing women's image.