Abstract

A year since Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte launched a violent war on drugs that has claimed over 7000 lives, his approval ratings remain high. Duterte’s drug war has been defined by broader police powers and a general hostility to criticism from opposition leaders, the media, and local and international institutions. Sharmila’s talk will provide partial explanations for the popularity of the drug war and examine its implications on human rights, political discourse, and the accountability of political institutions in the Philippines.

Sharmila Parmanand is a PhD candidate in Multi-Disciplinary Gender Studies student at the University of Cambridge and a Gates Scholar. Her research investigates anti-sex trafficking discourses and interventions in the Philippines and their effects on vulnerable populations. She has a master’s degree in gender and development at the University of Melbourne on an Australian Leadership Award scholarship and an undergraduate degree in Political Science from Ateneo de Manila University. She was a lecturer at the University of Vermont and Ateneo de Manila.

Suggested reading: ‘They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals’, Inside President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal antidrug campaign in the Philippines, our photojournalist documented 57 homicide victims over 35 days. Available form: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/07/world/asia/rodrigo-duterte-philippines-drugs-killings.html?_r=1.