¨The 2004 Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act criminalizes physical, sexual, and psychological harm or abuse to women and their children committed by their spouses or partners. Through December the PNP reported 1,269 cases under the act and 1,892 other cases of wife battering and physical injuries under older laws. This number likely underreported significantly the level of violence against women in the country.¨ (The US Department of State site, 2007 March 6)
¨A 2003 survey by the NGO Social Weather Station found that 12 percent of men admitted having physically harmed women…Women in the same survey cited the following reasons for not reporting violence: embarrassment, not knowing how or to whom to report, belief that the violence was unimportant, and belief that nothing would be done.¨ (The US Department of State site, 2007 March 6)
¨Rape continued to be a problem, with most cases going unreported. During the year, the PNP reported 685 rape cases There were reports of rape and sexual abuse of women in police or protective custody–often women from marginalized groups, such as suspected prostitutes, drug users, and lower income individuals arrested for minor crimes.¨ (The US Department of State site, 2007 March 6)
¨Since 2007, Gabriela has recorded 15 cases of abuse of household helpers. These cases include different forms of maltreatment, including deprivation of salary and rape…. Gabriela Women’s Party would propose a bill that would protect the rights of those employed in private households especially since this sector is the third biggest employer of women….there has been a 30 percent increase in the number of house helpers, majority of whom are women, during recent years. These women are forced to work as helpers because of poverty and massive unemployment in the country.¨ (Cases of Abuse of Household Helpers Increasing, Gabriela to Push for Laws for their Protection, Bulatlat.com, 2010 June 11)
¨Pursuant to Republic Act No. 8551, mandating the establishment of Women’s Desks in all police stations, a total of 1,669 Women and Children’s Desks have been established as of 2001, manned by 2,259 PNP personnel. On March 9, 2006, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to expedite the recruitment of 400 new policewomen or ´lady cops´ to strengthen the Women’s Desk in the country’s police stations.¨ (WikiPilipinas.org)
¨The highest recorded number of VAW,¨ or Violence Against Women, ¨cases in the Philippine National Police (PNP) peaked in 2001 at 10,343. Physical injuries…increased from 1996 to 2001 but decreased from 2002 to 2004. It accounted for 53.6% of the total 8,011 reported cases in 2003. The DSWD reports that it served 15,314 women in especially difficult circumstances (WEDC) cases in 2003, most of which were cases of physical abuse/maltreatment and battering. Rape cases reported to the PNP…, increased from 1996 to 2000 but took a downhill trend from 2001 to 2004.” (Strategic Plan of the IACVAWC 2007-2010, Inter-Agency Council on Violence Against Women and Their Children). The IACVAWC was created by virtue of the Republic Act No. 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004.
¨…the 2001 Socio-Economic Summit declared the need to strengthen the NCRFW’s oversight function to eliminate violence against women. This resulted in the establishment of the Violence Against Women Coordinating Committee (VAWCC), a 15-member-agency Committee committed to systematize and synchronize all government efforts to eliminate all forms of VAW.¨ (Strategic Plan of the IACVAWC 2007-2010, Inter-Agency Council on Violence Against Women and Their Children)
¨To eliminate exploitation in prostitution, demand must be discouraged and rehabilitation provided to prostituted women…some feminists argue for the protection of sex workers like any other hazardous work; other groups lobby to decriminalize prostitution. The latter maintain that prostitution is a no-choice job for destitute women and that customers, pimps and owners of establishments profiting from this business must be held liable. The Coalition against Trafficking in Women Asia-Pacific (CATWAP) asserted that much of human trafficking is linked to prostitution…reaffirmed its position that prostitution is Violence Against Women and therefore should be abolished. (TNT March 07).¨ (Womenś rights in the Philippines Today, Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project, 2008 January 11)
¨Sexual harassment in the workplace is still rampant, despite the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law (RA7877)…Young girls who want desperately to make the grade or want to be employed are likely victims of their teachers or superiors.¨ (Womenś rights in the Philippines Today, Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project, 2008 January 11)
¨There are at least six million home-based workers, most of whom are women. Among them are subcontracted homeworkers who have no written contracts with definite employers, suffer from substandard wages even while they shoulder the cost of work space and utilities, lack social protection, access to training and other resources, and are vulnerable to occupational health and safety hazards…because these workers are outside the formal economy, and operate outside the scope of regulations, the provision of health and other social protection programs has remained highly problematic.¨ (Womenś rights in the Philippines Today, Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project, 2008 January 11)
¨In 1992,…the Women in Development and Nation-Building Act was passed, strengthening the Government’s commitment to bring women’s issues and concerns into mainstream development. Other legislative developments include the following: the passage of an act strengthening the prohibition of discrimination against women in employment; the generics law, which protects consumers, primarily women, from exorbitant costs of medicines; a law on prostitution and trafficking, which outlaws the practice of matching Filipino women for marriage to foreign nationals either on a mail-order basis or through personal introduction for a fee….formulation of a first set of guidelines for evaluation and revision of textbooks as to their sexist content; formation of women’s studies consortium in six colleges and universities; and, implementation of a project to promote the participation of women in non-traditional trades.¨ (Social Conditions Including Poverty Remain Obstacles to Womenś Advancement in Philippines, Womenś Anti-Discrimination Told, UN.org site)
Se. Jinggoy Estrada authored the Kasambay or Household Bill which aims to give protection to househelp people. It is still pending in congress.
¨The Philippine Human Rights Plan, 1996-2000, which was prepared with the full participation of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, gives special focus to women’s rights as human rights. Landmark laws passed by the current Congress include the 1995 Anti-Sexual Harassment Act; and an act to provide credit assistance to women in micro and cottage businesses.¨ (Social Conditions Including Poverty Remain Obstacles to Womenś Advancement in Philippines, Womenś Anti-Discrimination Told, UN.org site)
