Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) organized a face-to-face Gender Sensitivity Orientation (GSO) as part of the annual 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women (VAW) with the theme “UNiTEd for a VAW-free Philippines” which aims to address gender-based stereotypes and promote safe spaces for all, held on December 1, 2022

Organized by the PFDA - Gender and Development Focal Point System (PFDA-GFPS), the GSO aims to open the conversation about Gender and Development (GAD) and share thought-provoking ideas that can help create a gender-inclusive and transformative workplace and community.

PFDA-GFPS Overall Head and Public Information Division Chief Mr. Mc Christian Julius A. Macaranas II served as the resource person for the orientation.

Mr. Macaranas discussed various topics, such as the difference between sex and gender and the basics of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sexual Characteristics (SOGIESC). He noted that “oversimplification of SOGIESC is dangerous and can lead to the marginalization of people’s SOGIESC.”

In addition, Mr. Macaranas talked about gender stereotyping in various institutions and gender as a social construct. 

“It is high time for us to consider listening to various ideas about lived experiences and expressions of everyone. It is time for us to acknowledge the social constructs about gender and deconstruct them, and it should start with the family,” Mr. Macaranas said. 

The Republic Act 11313, also known as the Safe Spaces Act, defined gender as “a set of socially ascribed characteristics, norms, roles, attitudes, values, and expectations identifying the social behavior of men and women, and the relations between them.”

(Mark Angelo N. Perez with photos from Paul Vincent R. del Rosario – Public Information Division)