the same hard work as with men. Many times, they help in the farms and rice fields without wage or compensation. Cultural norms largely account for this. Efforts to build an awareness of rural women’s rights should be planned and implemented. The local government should integrate rural women’s rights advocacy in their community projects. Community leaders can be tapped to build awareness on rural women’s rights within their own communities. Business owners and other parties transacting with rural women should also be targeted for advocating rural women’s rights. 5. Corporations and various enterprises should operate with conscious effort to respect rural women’s rights. Corporations and businesses should ensure that they provide proper compensation and good working conditions for rural women. They should adopt business practices that protect the health of rural women, their families and their community. During the forum, the participants recommended as an example that aerial spraying of pesticides in plantations and general use of harmful chemicals be stopped. They also suggested that businesses implement proper waste disposal as good health and environmental practice. Businesses should also monitor their employees’ treatment of rural women ensuring that they are not abused, maltreated or exploited. An equal opportunity for rural women to be promoted and take managerial positions should also be provided. The government should ensure corporations’ and business enterprises’ compliance in respecting rural women’s rights through advocacy, monitoring and imposition of strict sanctions and appropriate penalties to violators. 6. Ensure that corporations and businesses rehabilitate the environment that is damaged due to their operations. The women leader participants called for the mining corporations’ rehabilitation of the environment by removing mining tailings, tree-planting, and other activities. They said that community participation in tree-planting and other conservation activities can also be encouraged. 7. Conduct of CHR-led investigation and monitoring of rights violations. Some participants reported cases of sexual abuse of rural women, such as rape inside plantation and mining sites, prostitution, IP girl-child exploitation, and other abuses, in their areas. These incidents should be investigated by the Commission of Human Rights so that legal remedies and other appropriate interventions can be extended to the victims. Other examples of violations in relation to Business and Human Rights that were reported at the forum, and are strongly recommended for investigation, include: • At least 20 anti-mining advocates killed since 2007 • Cases of physical and legal harassments, threats and arbitrary arrests • Land grabbing, physical displacement, demolitions and violent dispersal of barricades • Disregard and blatant violation of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) for indigenous peoples (IPs) 14