The personal and the sexual are political

Educated on diverse gender perspectives by the internet and emboldened by global feminist movements like #MeToo, Filipino youth are boldly pushing the issues of body autonomy and sexuality to the frontlines of the struggle for gender equality. With social media as a platform for convergence, alliance and advocacy, they are treading territory that previous feminist movements shied away from. Amarela is a youth-driven initiative to make sexual rights and reproductive health information accessible to young people. The Facebook-based group and its band of about 80 teen volunteers of diverse gender identities work in shifts to produce informational materials, organise talks, and hold webinars for their more than 14,000 followers. The core of their work revolves around stripping reproductive health information of development world jargon and medical tongue twisters, and transforming them into infographics. The result is bite-sized pieces of information translated into Filipino and other major Philippine languages packed with catchy text that is welcoming and friendly