Photo Courtesy of Rene H. Dilan / The Manila Times
Woman, Life, Freedom. Jin, Jiyan, Azadî in Kurdish.
These three words are not decorative. They lay out a moral and political demand, and the order is intentional.
Women must be recognized first, Life must be safeguarded second, Freedom must be granted third. Only when all three are honored does society begin to meet the basic standard of justice for women.
This slogan translates pain, fear, and loss into a call to action and for justice and accountability.
It demands that violence against women be treated as a public emergency that requires collective response, not quiet endurance.
The slogan gained global resonance in 2022, following the untimely death of Jina Mahsa Amini in Iran. She was 22 years old when she was detained by her country’s morality police and never returned home.
The loss became a poignant symbol of what the slogan warns against: when women are not recognized, when their lives are not protected, and when their freedom is denied, gendered violence persists.
Her life, and the outcry it sparked, embodies the very meaning of Woman, Life, Freedom, reminding the world that these words are not abstract, but rooted in her name and the name of countless other women yet to be given justice.
A Global Emergency: The Scale of Violence
The numbers are telling. According to a recent report by the United Nations, around 50,000 women and girls worldwide were killed in 2024 by intimate partners or family members. That averages to 137 victims per day, or roughly one woman killed every ten minutes.
In these fatal cases, about 60 percent of the victims died at the hands of someone they knew— husbands, fathers, uncles, brothers, or other loved ones.
These killings represent only the tip of the iceberg. Gender-based violence extends far beyond femicide in the home— abuse, harassment, and exploitation are also some of the daily realities for millions of women.
The slogan Women, Life, Freedom captures the urgency of this broader crisis.
The Struggle in the Philippines
In the country, the fight for Woman, Life, Freedom is ongoing and concrete. Violence against women remains widespread despite legal reforms and public awareness campaigns. A recent report by the World Health Organization found that an estimated 7.2 percent of Filipino women aged 15 to 49 were subjected to physical or sexual abuse by their husband or male partner at least once in their lifetime. Around 3.1 percent experienced such abuse in the past year alone.
The report also noted that one of the most common forms of violence against women globally is abuse committed by a former or current husband or partner.
Civil society organizations, grassroots networks, and women’s rights groups have long challenged this reality.
Activists provide survivor support, campaign for better laws, demand accountability, and confront cultural norms that tolerate violence.
In Manila, public demonstrations on significant dates such as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women highlight the ongoing struggle. Dance protests, rallies, and public gatherings remind society that women’s lives matter and that freedom must be defended.
These actions commemorate women lost to violence, including Jina Mahsa Amini, linking local activism to the global fight.
Beyond the Slogan
If Woman, Life, Freedom is to be more than a rallying cry, then systemic change is required.
First, legal and institutional protections must be strengthened and efficiently enforced so that survivors may have access to justice and support. Second, cultural norms that tolerate violence must be challenged. Silence and stigma around abuse must be broken by education, public discourse, and community accountability. Third, support systems, such as shelters, mental-health services, hotlines, and economic support, must be accessible to all women, regardless of their differences.
Finally, society must shift from treating violence against women as isolated incidents to recognizing it as a structural problem that reflects a deeply problematic and patriarchal system in place. That shift demands collective responsibility, from families, communities, institutions, and governments, to ensure that women’s lives are protected and their freedom respected.
Until these changes happen, until every woman can walk safely through her home and in the streets, access quality education, and have equal opportunities for progress, the cry for Woman, Life, Freedom must continue— not in vain, but in remembrance of Jina Mahsa Amini and the countless women whose lives were unjustly lost to violence.