Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Women

The Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Women, commonly abbreviated TW-MAE-W, is a women’s rights and social-service organization founded in the Philippines on Human Rights Day, 10 December 1980. Led at its inception by Sister Mary Soledad Perpinan, the movement was established to oppose the exploitation and oppression of women, particularly where sex, race, and class intersect. Its work combines public advocacy with direct assistance for survivors of incest, rape, prostitution, sex trafficking, and other forms of sexual exploitation. The organization’s early public activity included a protest against Japanese sex tours on its founding date. During the early 1980s, it expanded its advocacy through demonstrations in Southeast Asian capitals, seeking broader regional attention and support for campaigns against the commercial exploitation of women. Its work subsequently developed into a network of practical services in the Philippines. These included drop-in centers, growth homes, and transition homes where survivors could obtain support from trained staff and fieldworkers. TW-MAE-W’s Philippine programs have focused on women and children who have experienced sexual abuse or exploitation. Its Belen drop-in centers have operated in Pasay, Quezon City, Batangas City, Subic, Cebu City, General Santos, and Angeles City. The centers provide an initial point of contact and help survivors access the organization’s wider programs. The movement has also operated residential facilities, including the Bethany Transition Home in Quezon City, Manila. The home accommodates approximately 10 to 20 women and supports residents while they undertake outside employment and move toward greater independence. The organization’s service model has included education, personal development, housing, and livelihood assistance. Reported income-generating activities include the production and sale of handbags made by participating women, beekeeping and honey production, candle-making, catering, and massage services. These projects are intended to provide practical income opportunities alongside recovery and reintegration support. The organization has also described a broader network of seven drop-in centers and three homes, staffed by approximately 35 women, although the timing and continuing status of those figures are not fully documented in the available reference material. TW-MAE-W has also participated in anti-trafficking education. In 2007, it held an anti-human-trafficking workshop, extending its work beyond individual services into training and awareness-building. Overall, the movement is best understood not as a conventional consumer brand but as a Philippine civil-society organization whose identity is associated with feminist advocacy, survivor support, anti-trafficking work, and economic empowerment. Publicly available information is limited, and current leadership, funding, formal legal structure, and present operational scale are not established in the supplied sources.

The Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Women was established in the Philippines on 10 December 1980, Human Rights Day. Sister Mary Soledad Perpinan is identified as the movement’s founding leader. From the beginning, the organization framed women’s exploitation as a structural issue connected to sex, race, and class, rather than as a problem limited to individual acts of abuse. Its stated objective was the liberation of women from these overlapping forms of oppression and exploitation. One of the movement’s earliest public actions was a protest against Japanese sex tours, held on its founding date. By 1981, it had organized demonstrations in several Southeast Asian capitals in an effort to build regional momentum and support. The organization’s early development was also influenced by an educational initiative associated with Brother Andrew, then head of La Salle University. Scholarships for computer training were offered to a brothel manager, her daughter, and two bar workers. This initiative became an example of the movement’s preference for combining social intervention and economic alternatives with public protest. Over time, TW-MAE-W developed a Philippine service network for women and children affected by sexual abuse and commercial sexual exploitation. Its programs included drop-in centers, growth homes, and transition homes. The reported network comprised seven drop-in centers and three homes, with approximately 35 female staff members. The available account does not establish whether these figures describe a particular historical period or the organization’s current scale. The Belen drop-in centers were reported in Pasay, Quezon City, Batangas City, Subic, Cebu City, General Santos, and Angeles City. These facilities served as accessible points where survivors of the sex-slavery trade could meet trained personnel and fieldworkers, receive support, and be connected with further programs. Residential assistance was provided through homes such as the Bethany Transition Home in Quezon City, Manila. That facility housed approximately 10 to 20 women, all of whom reportedly held jobs outside the home, linking temporary accommodation with employment and reintegration. Economic empowerment formed another part of the movement’s approach. Women produced handbags from materials obtained from different sources, and the products were sold to generate income. Other reported projects included beekeeping and honey production, candle-making, catering, and massage. These activities provided alternatives to exploitative labor while giving participants practical work experience and income-generating opportunities. The organization continued its anti-trafficking advocacy into the 2000s. In 2007, it held an anti-human-trafficking workshop. Its documented work therefore spans protest, public education, direct survivor services, temporary housing, and livelihood development. The supplied reference material does not provide reliable information about its current governing structure, funding, legal registration, present leadership beyond its founding figure, or whether every historically reported facility remains operational.

• 2007

  Anti-human-trafficking workshop

  [1]Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Womenen.wikipedia.org

  The movement held a workshop focused on human trafficking.

• 1981

  Regional demonstrations expand

  [1]Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Womenen.wikipedia.org

  TW-MAE-W initiated demonstrations in Southeast Asian capitals to build support for its anti-exploitation work.

• 1980

  Movement founded on Human Rights Day

  [1]Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Womenen.wikipedia.org

  TW-MAE-W began operations on 10 December 1980 under the leadership of Sister Mary Soledad Perpinan.

• 1980

  Protest against Japanese sex tours

  [1]Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Womenen.wikipedia.org

  The movement spearheaded a protest against Japanese sex tours on its founding date.

A feminist, anti-exploitation movement combining public advocacy with direct services, temporary housing, recovery support, and livelihood opportunities for women and children affected by sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and related exploitation.

• Livelihood products

  Handbags

  Handbags made by women participating in the organization’s livelihood activities, using materials obtained from different sources. The items were sold as an income-generating project connected to survivor support and economic empowerment.

• Livelihood products

  Honey and bees

  Beekeeping and honey production were identified as additional income-generating activities within the movement’s livelihood program.

• Livelihood products

  Candles

  Candle-making was among the small-scale livelihood projects associated with the organization’s effort to create safer income opportunities for women.

• 2007Anti-human-trafficking workshop

  Philippines

  The organization conducted a workshop to increase attention to human trafficking and reinforce its anti-exploitation advocacy.

  Outcome. The available source confirms the workshop but does not report attendance, funding, or measurable results.

  Source
• 1980Campaign against Japanese sex tours

  Philippines · Southeast Asia

  TW-MAE-W organized a public protest against Japanese sex tours as part of its founding-day activities and broader opposition to the commercial exploitation of women.

  Outcome. The protest helped establish the movement’s public advocacy profile; no further outcome is documented in the supplied sources.

  Source

1. 1Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Womenen.wikipedia.org