“Nung una nag-dadalawang isip ako sumali [sa creative workshop] dahil nung nalaman ko na tungkol ito sa family planning at GBV, baka sensitibo ito so baka wala rin akong masabi… pero nung pag-kapasok ko dun, ‘di rin ako aware sa ganitong mga bagay until nalaman ko ngayon yung mga nararanasan ng kapwa ‘kong babae,” Hijara, a young Muslim woman, stated after going through the life stories creative workshop.  

Last 4-5 June 2022, the University of the Philippines Center for Women’s and Gender Studies (UPCWGS) conducted creative movement, visual, and life stories workshops with the Muslim cluster in pursuit of the arts-based research project. 

The arts-based research project aims to pioneer a more innovative, engaging, and accessible approach to the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and gender-based violence (GBV) prevention discourse through its arts-based methodology, while also widening the constituency for advocacy by drawing on the feminist standpoint epistemology to find approaches appropriate for sectors with different perspectives. 

The video highlights were developed and produced by the Feminist Media Lab for the UPCWGS and OXFAM Pilipinas. 

You may view the video highlights of the workshops here.