Manila joins global run to ‘Break the Silence’
Fun Run
Break the Silence
March 19, 6 am.
McKinley West Park, Taguig City
MANILA joins 20 other cities across the globe to “Break The Silence” on March 19, as the Philippine Accessible Disability Services, Inc. (PADS) initiates a solidarity run to stop sexual abuse and exploitation to deaf communities in the Philippines.
The goal of the run is to generate a global wave of awareness which will contribute to stopping the sexual abuse of deaf women and children who are the more vulnerable to exploitation according to a recent survey conducted by the Philippine Deaf Resource Center. It found that 65-70% of Deaf boys and girls in the Philippines have been molested while a further study revealed that one-third of female respondents had been raped.
PADS is a Cebu-based nongovernment organization with the vision of a “Disability Inclusive Filipino Society.”
While the primary run will be held in Cebu City, AIESEC Alumni Philippines is organizing a local fun run in Manila to support the global movement.
The Manila run will be held at McKinley West Park, Taguig City from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., with a 2.5K and a 5K running route.
PADS’ partners and networks across the Americas, Australia, Asia, Europe, and the Pacific nations will also host runs in their cities on that day. The final run of the day will be hosted by Google at the Googleplex in Mountain View, California.
Approximately 10,000 global people of all abilities and ages are expected to participate in the Global Run. PADS is also encouraging other local organizations and NGOs to adopt the project and host fun runs in their cities as well.
Participants are encouraged to donate a minimum of P350 which will help strengthen the Break the Silence advocacy through a year-long activity which involves raising awareness, providing training, and improve access to education for the PWD community.
AIESEC Alumni in partnership with DDB Cares produced a promotional video and started circulating a video challenge on social media to help raise awareness. The challenge is done by filming one’s self saying “Together, we can break the silence” in sign language and uploading it on Facebook using the #BreakTheSilence hashtag and tagging it to friends to do the same.
For more details and to pre-register, visit the Break the Silence Event Page through PADS’ Facebook Fan Page or visit PADS Web site at www.pads.org.ph.
