SPARK! Philippines to hold mental health talk series on women, LGBTQ+

This is a press release from Samahan ng mga Pilipina para sa Reporma at Kaunlaran! (SPARK) Philippines.

SPARK! Philippines, in partnership with Vanguard Assessments and the Austrian Embassy Manila, and with the support of J. Amado Araneta Foundation and the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment, is organizing a three-part mental health talk series called SPARK! Conversations, to be held on August 23, September 6, and 27, 2019 at Commune Cafe + Bar, Makati City.

The mental health talk series is specifically targeted towards women and the LGBTQ+ community who have suffered from mental health issues due to social factors such as gender-based violence, socioeconomic disadvantage, and income inequality. 

The three-part series of SPARK! Conversations Mental Health Talk Series with Vanguard Assessments will focus on the topics of single working mothers and the structural disadvantages they tend to experience such as financial insecurity and lack of social support; the struggles that the support system of people who have mental health disorders go through especially in balancing what they can offer to others while also looking after their own needs; and members of the LGBTQ+ community and the mental health challenges that they face due to discrimination, societal pressures, and stigma that they come across every day. 

With the passage of the Philippine Mental Health law, the talk series aims to promote efforts to improve the awareness and encourage discussions on mental health in the Philippines especially on women and the LGBTQ+ community. Through this, we can protect and help end the stigma against mental health. – Rappler.com