Development Action for Women Network (DAWN)

The Development Action for Women Network (DAWN), based in Manila, was established in 1996 to support distressed Filipino women migrants from Japan and their Japanese-Filipino children. It promotes and protects their legal rights and welfare. In 2011, DAWN expanded its scope to include Filipino migrant domestic workers and their families, addressing issues of gender equality, human trafficking, and human rights.

Mission

The Development Action for Women Network (DAWN) is a non-government, non-profit organization established in 1996 to assist distressed women migrants from Japan, as well as their Japanese-Filipino children, in the promotion and protection of their rights and welfare. In 2011, DAWN expanded its programs to include Filipino migrant domestic workers and their families. Its mission is to live in hope with the Filipino people, especially with the returning distressed migrant women and their children, through programs and services that enable them and their families to regain and strengthen their sense of dignity and self-worth, reclaim their wholeness and attain total development. Up to the mid-1980s, the vast majority of migrant workers were men. By the late 1980s, when the demand for service grew in the international arena, more women workers started to join the migrant workforce. This era marked the feminization of migration. There was a rapid increase in the number of women Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW). Most of them are domestic workers and entertainers. In the 1970's, the Philippines starts sending Overseas Performing Artists (OPAs). About 98% of OPAs go to Japan for work, where 95% are composed of women. The 1990s and 2004 saw a huge increase in the number of Filipino women who were deployed abroad as OPAs. Although the figure declined in 1996 with the implementation of stricter laws after the cases of Maricris Sioson in 1991 and Flor Contemplacion in 1995, there was an increase in the number of OPA deployment in 1997. The deployment reached 74,000 in 2003, and about 71,000 in 2004. It has long been accepted that women constitute the more vulnerable sector among OFWs. The Development Action for Women Network (DAWN) believes that women entertainers, particularly those who work in Japan, are more vulnerable to exploitation with the nature of their work. With the increase of women working in Japan as entertainers in Japan, problems arose, including the issue

Development Action for Women Network (DAWN) is a Philippine non-governmental, non-profit organization established in 1996 to assist distressed Filipina migrant women returning from Japan and their Japanese-Filipino children. It provides shelter, healthcare, counseling, legal aid and livelihood support, and in …