HerStory

The idea for the first consciously feminist legal organization advocating feminist legal advocacy as a strategy for the promotion and defense of women’s human rights was started in 1989 by three feminist students, and was legally established a year later under its former name, “Women’s Legal Bureau”. 

A significant point in the herstory of the women’s movement in the Philippines, WLB worked to empower women through the use of and engagement with the law and its institutions. 

WLB has contributed in shaping Philippine jurisprudence and legal landscape by handling cases with the use of the Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS) as basis for self-defense; and drafting of some of the bills that now form part of the body of Philippine laws that strengthen protections for women against violence and discrimination. In 2006, WLB led the historical gathering of around one hundred women’s rights organizations and advocates in submitting the Philippine Shadow Report under the Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). 

As the organization expanded its mandate to include other areas and platforms in seeking fulfillment of women’s rights, WLB renamed itself as “Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau” in 2009.

HerStory

The idea for the first consciously feminist legal organization advocating feminist legal advocacy as a strategy for the promotion and defense of women’s human rights was started in 1989 by three feminist students, and was legally established a year later under its former name, “Women’s Legal Bureau”. 

A significant point in the herstory of the women’s movement in the Philippines, WLB worked to empower women through the use of and engagement with the law and its institutions. 

WLB has contributed in shaping Philippine jurisprudence and legal landscape by handling cases with the use of the Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS) as basis for self-defense; and drafting of some of the bills that now form part of the body of Philippine laws that strengthen protections for women against violence and discrimination. In 2006, WLB led the historical gathering of around one hundred women’s rights organizations and advocates in submitting the Philippine Shadow Report under the Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). 

As the organization expanded its mandate to include other areas and platforms in seeking fulfillment of women’s rights, WLB renamed itself as “Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau” in 2009.