More than 4,000 Filipino women in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently joined a campaign to promote "Pinay empowerment," a "Khaleej Times" report said. The Dubai-based Filipino society magazine "Ilustrado" launched the "Pinays Take Charge" campaign to caution Filipinas about situations that may get them in trouble in the UAE. "There's a huge cultural difference between the Philippines and the UAE. What's acceptable back home may not be acceptable here. As a result, a lot of Filipinas unknowingly get into trouble without understanding the root of the problem," the Khaleej Times quoted magazine editor-in-chief Lalaine Chu-Benitez as saying. Chu-Benitez said two out of three Filipinos in the UAE, or 400,000 out of the estimated 600,000 Filipinos there, are women. 10-point pledge According to the Khaleej Times report, the campaign has a 10-point pledge that guides Filipinas on potential causes of legal trouble. The pledge includes reminders about:
taking responsibility for their bodies and actions; dressing conservatively; being alert to possible dangers or situations that can lead to trouble, and exercising self-respect. Many Pinays do not know that cohabiting and getting pregnant out of wedlock are punishable under UAE law, Chu-Benitez said in the report. "Too often our women put themselves in compromising positions or dangerous situations because they haven't learnt how to love and respect themselves; they haven't learnt how to say ‘no'; they haven't learnt how to fight back. We want to put the power back into their hands," Chu-Benitez said. Symbolic gesture According to the report, Chu-Benitez said the campaign is a "symbolic gesture," to help the Filipinas understand that they are making a commitment. "They have rules to live by … that what happens to them is the outcome of their own actions, not someone else's faults. Those actions may have been extremely innocent in the woman's mind," the report quoted her as saying. "For example, the practice that some Pinay have of calling everyone ‘my friend.' Back home, it's normal. But here, people of certain cultures may misconstrue those words as a come-on, or an open invitation, from the woman," she added. Pledge According to Khaleej Times, the women's pledge said: I am strong, beautiful and brave. I am a woman with a big heart and a bright future. I will love myself, knowing that nobody else can love me wholly and completely but me, and that I cannot give love, if I have no love. I will be aware of the rules, understand the customs and cultural sensitivities of my host country, and will adhere to these. Ignorance is not an excuse. I will nurture myself. I know my worth and I will not settle for less than what I deserve. I will live with self-respect and will safeguard and not sell out my values. - VVP, GMA News 
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