Exploiting women or treating them like objects is “a direct offense against God,” an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said, reported CBCP News.

Saying that God made man and woman according to his own image and likeness, Bishop Crispin Varquez said that every offense against the dignity of women is a sin.

He cited prostitution, sexual abuse, violence and various forms of discrimination as among those that violate the “intrinsic being” of women.

“Every woman is entitled to the respect of every man and other women; no woman should ever be treated as a mere object for another person’s satisfaction,” Bishop Varquez said.

The prelate, who heads the CBCP Office on Women, made the statement in his message for the Women’s Month Celebration.

He said that there are specific tasks in life that only a woman can do just as there are specific tasks that are meant only for a man.

“But man and woman are equal in dignity,” he stressed. “Their true relationship is to complement and complete each other.”

Bishop Varquez also emphasized that women, as the bearer of human life, are in a unique position to change and transform society for the better.

He added that this is the task to which women are called always. “To them, I say then, nurture what is good in your families,” he added.

“Raise God-loving, responsible and happy children, remembering that it is in your homes, no matter how humble, that we begin to form citizens of the world,” he also said.

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