Carolina Austria

RH Reality Check, Asia
I am a feminist and social activist, a lawyer as well as an academic. I have worked with NGOs for the last thirteen years, first as an Environment Lawyer handling litigation for Legal and Natural Resources Center (Friends of the Earth-Philippines) and later as a feminist lawyer for both litigation and research programs at the Women’s Legal Bureau,Inc. I was founding Executive Director of Women’s Legal Education, Advocacy & Defense Foundation Inc. (WOMENLEAD) from 2000-2005 where I am now a Volunteer/Board Chairperson. I have been an independent consultant for the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF-UK); the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines, Women and Gender Institute (WAGI), Women’s Feature Service (WFS) as well as other women’s organizations and NGOs working on Reproductive health. I was an 2007 LLM Fellow of the International Sexual and Reproductive Health Program of the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto. I also teach at the College of Law, University of the Philippines. I am an incoming SJD Fellow of the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto. (2009) I am a Research Associate for the SRHR Project of the Development Alternatives with Women for a New Network (DAWN).

What Filipino Catholics Say About Abortion

As hard as it has become in the US context to explore common ground in the abortion debate, in places like the Philippines, even mustering a public discussion about contraception has become increasingly difficult in recent years.

When Gender Is Not Enough

Women political leaders in the Philippines are nothing new. But examining the close relationship of female Filipino leaders to the Catholic Church reveals that more than gender is required for progressive policies on reproductive health.

Condemning Contraceptive Condoms

Despite the Philippine President's lack of support for universal access to contraceptives, an official of the Department of Health recently criticized the Roman Catholic Church's position against condom use.