Lauren Young, Janina Vela tell own #HijaAko stories of sexual harassment

Actress Lauren Young (L) and YouTube vlogger Janina Vela. Image: Instagram/@lo_young, @janinavela

Actress Lauren Young and YouTube vlogger Janina Vela recalled their experiences of sexual harassment as online discussions have focused on rape culture in the Philippines.

Both used the hashtag #HijaAko, which singer Frankie Pangilinan first used yesterday in her response to TV personality Ben Tulfo’s statements on Facebook and Twitter that appeared to endorse victim-blaming.

Tulfo addressed Pangilinan as “hija” in his posts where he said rapists simply “need the opportunity” to commit a crime and therefore women should be “careful” with how they dress.

“[I] was 17 when a man slipped his hand into my oversized denim jumper. [Eighteen], when a man unzipped my large coat to touch me. [A]t 19, [I] was wearing baggy pants, only still to be groped,” Vela, 21, wrote on Twitter yesterday.

“[S]top blaming women for their clothes. [S]tart holding men accountable for their actions. #HijaAko!!!”

i was 17 when a man slipped his hand into my oversized denim jumper. 18, when a man unzipped my large coat to touch me. at 19, i was wearing baggy pants, only still to be groped.

stop blaming women for their clothes.
start holding men accountable for their actions.#HijaAko!!!

— Janina Vela (@janinavela) June 14, 2020

“I was at a bar in Boracay, sober, with my friends and a guy kept harassing everyone there. He kept talking to me and bothering me and just grabbed my boobs out of nowhere,” Young said in response to Tulfo’s tweet. “I was fully covered up even at the beach and yet he violated me publicly. #HijaAko.”

“It’s not about what you’re wearing — it’s the fact that he was disgusting and wanted to take advantage of me,” she added.

I was at a bar in Boracay, sober, with my friends and a guy kept harrassing everyone there. He kept talking to me and bothering me and just grabbed my boobs out of nowhere. I was fully covered up even at the beach and yet he violated me publicly. #HijaAko https://t.co/loYgJKru41

— Lauren Young (@loyoung) June 14, 2020

She also gave her piece on double standards against men and women: “And btw if a woman is intoxicated [it’s] her fault? If a man is intoxicated ‘ayy sorry lasing ako (sorry I was drunk)’ excuses start to come in. #HijaAko.”

Even prior to Tulfo’s statement, Pangilinan was speaking up against rape culture on Saturday, June 13 when she reacted to a report that a police station in Quezon province warned women not to wear short clothes and then report harassment.

“STOP TEACHING GIRLS HOW TO DRESS?? TEACH PEOPLE NOT TO RAPE,” Pangilinan said on Twitter.

Akin to the #MeToo hashtag, #HijaAko has recently been used by Filipino women to raise awareness on how rampant sexual misconduct is and as a way to illustrate that clothing does not prevent rape or other forms of sexual violence. JB

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