Introduction
Elsa Batica tells the sad story of receiving a phone call from a woman in distress. She remembers the shiver that surged through her body as she listened to the frightened whisper from the other side of the line. “I need to get out of here” the frightened voice said. The caller was an immigrant from the Philippines. She had been brutally raped and physically assaulted by her husband and did not know where to go for help. As she frantically searched the phonebook she came across Batica’s phone number. Batica is the founder of a social organization in Minnesota known as the Filipino-American Women’s Network (FAWN, 2008).
Analysis
To analyze FAWN’s work in the community it is important to understand what a social organization is. Social organization and social institutions are terms used interchangeably in sociology. A social organization is made up of people with social positions. Their social positions are given to them by the society. Being a priest in a community is an example of a social position given to a person by virtue of their occupation.
In a social organization, people are connected by social relations. Social relations are interactions controlled by norms between people with social positions in a community. People of social position join hands to perform a specific social role in a social organization. A social organization can therefore be defined as an institution that works together to achieve a social role in a community (The Free Dictionary, 2008).
Many women from the Philippines come to the US as illegal immigrants. Most of these are victims of human trafficking. Many of them are abused physically and sexually and do not know where to go for assistance. Some of them end up prostituting themselves in order to survive in their new home. FAWN was founded by and for women of Philippine descent. It was established in 1980 after the 1st National Asian Pacific Women’s Conference which was held in Washington DC. A chapter was established in Minnesota in 1984 (FAWN, 2008).
FAWN”s objectives are to train Filipino American women so as to enable them to obtain new skills or improve on skills they already had. FAWN organizes training sessions that equip the women with knowledge to improve or acquire new skill and abilities. The organization seeks to remove barriers to employment that are caused by racism and sexism. The organization also seeks to promote the Filipino culture amongst the younger generation of Filipino women in the Minnesota community (FAWN, 2008).
FAWN is headed by a director who is aided by an assistant director. There are heads of different departments within the organization such as the head of the cultural department, the gender issues department and other departments. The organization publishes an annual newsletter that is available in print and as a downloadable document online. This newsletter is distributed within the community to raise awareness on issues that migrant Filipino women are facing.
The organization also organizes conferences that act as forums for discussing gender issues in regard to Filipino-American women and women of color in general. The promotion of Filipino culture is done on Philippine day. This is a celebration that last a whole day whereby Filipino food, tradition, songs and dances are celebrated. The celebrations are open to everyone in the community and the food is affordable (FAWN, 2008).
FAWN has been successful in increasing awareness of human trafficking and other issues that face not only Filipino-American women, but other women of color as well. Through their conferences and workshops, women have gained knowledge that has empowered them. They have been made aware of all the alternatives and opportunities available to them. The organization has been awarded several times for its efforts to empower women of color and provide them with skills that they can use to improve their lives. Numerous grants have been awarded to them to advance their efforts and plans are currently underway for expansion into other states in the US.
Conclusion
Their efforts can be further improved by offering language classes and cultural classes to other members of the community who are not of Filipino origin. The organization can also improve and spread awareness of its existence and activities in the community by providing more information about itself on its website. Visitors to this site may include potential donors or women in crisis. Adequate information will increase their awareness. The organization should also create groups in which women of different ages can interact and discuss the issues facing them as Filipino-American women in the Minnesota community.
References
FAWN. (2008). Web.
The Free Dictionary. (2008). Web.