AS women's month comes to an end, it is important to share at the national level some recent significant developments that are beneficial to Moro women and girls within and outside the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). I am referring to the five fatawa (plural of fatwa, or a legal pronouncement on an aspect of Islamic law that is given by a known authority) concerning gender-based violence (GBV) and other forms of violence against women (VAW) that were signed on Dec. 14, 2021 by Mufti Sheikh Abuhuraira A. Udasan of the Bangsamoro Darul-Ifta (BDI), Office of the Bangsamoro Mufti. The Bangsamoro Women's Commission (BWC), in partnership with various women groups and other sectors, celebrated the release of these religious rulings this month because these are vital in upholding the human rights and protection of women from discrimination and abuse within their families and communities.

The five fatawa are: 1) Violence against women (religious guidelines or RG 26); 2) Wife desertion and abandonment (RG 27); 3) Marital rape (RG 28); 4) Rape (RG 29); and 5) Human trafficking (RG 29). These are long-standing women's issues that are finally addressed formally through religious guidelines from the BDI. These fatawa are the products of a two-year collaborative work mainly by the BDI and the BWC. Technical support was extended by BARMM Health-University Research Company (URC), a USAid implementing partner. A technical working group comprising writers and resource persons from these collaborators conducted a series of meetings and writeshops as well as consultation meetings with other stakeholders that included UNFPA and the Commission on Population. A research committee helped prepare and review the fatawa to ensure that these are culturally and spiritually appropriate before these were finally approved by the BDI's Mufti. The fatawa were written in English and translated into Arabic. Although these documents were signed on Dec. 14, 2021, a ceremonial signing was held on March 3, 2022 by BDI and its partners to kick off the celebration of the women's month.