women's rights in the philippines essay

Women’s Rights in the Philippines in an Era of Authoritarianism

As elsewhere, several aspects of globalization helped drive the authoritarian response in the Philippines, a middle-income country with rampant inequality, stagnant development, and social conflict. Over 20% of the population lives in extreme poverty; Manila hosts massive slums and social conditions are even worse in some rural areas. The Philippines’ score on the GINI index shows that it is has one of the most unequal income distributions in the world, 1  and as a response to chronic unemployment and declining wages the country exhibits massive overseas labor migration—the Philippines is one of the most remittance dependent countries in the world. Another response to the protracted social crisis has been chronic violence, including high levels of crime and armed rebellions by separatist groups in Mindanao as well as the Communist New Peoples’ Army.    Authoritarianism arose to suppress the violence. Rodrigo Duterte’s administration has militarized law enforcement and mobilized paramilitary gangs in a self-styled “war on drugs,” and pursued abusive counter-insurgency. 2   Human rights groups estimate that Duterte’s strategy of extrajudicial assassination of criminal suspects in the slums has claimed tens of thousands of victims—the police acknowledge that thousands have been killed “resisting arrest.” 3  More broadly, Duterte has targeted democratic institutions and civil society organizations, and declared war on women, adding new levels of patriarchy to chronic disempowerment.   In a contradictory pattern typical of conflicted semi-liberal countries, the Philippines ranks high in gender equity due to women’s high levels of education, labor force participation, and history of political participation, but women’s status and conditions are undermined by poverty, gender-based violence, often-exploitive overseas migration for domestic service, and lack of reproductive rights. 4   Gender-based violence is pervasive, affecting at least one of four Philippine women, while one of every five children has experienced sexual violence. 5   Officially a Catholic country, the Philippines bans divorce and abortion, resulting in the region’s highest rate of unplanned and teen pregnancy, and limiting the options of victims of violence and sexual assault.     At the same time, women have played a strong role in liberation and resistance throughout the history of the Philippines. From the periods of Spanish colonialism and Japanese occupation to the more recent era of democratization women have played a prominent role in the political sphere with Corazon Aquino as the first female president and one of the founders of modern Filipino democracy. The most influential and well-known organization, Gabriela, is a coalition of women’s groups that came together to organize against the Marcos dictatorship and to promote women’s rights. Gabriela consists of a registered political party (Gabriela Women’s Party, founded 2000), a non-profit movement umbrella (Gabriela: a National Alliance of Women, founded 1984), and Gabriela Youth (founded 2004), and there are notable organizations within the Gabriela coalition for women workers, migrants, and indigenous women.  As a result of waves of mobilization by this multi-faceted women’s movement, over the past generation the Philippines has responded with a series of laws against sexual harassment, rape, trafficking, and domestic violence. 6   The last and most contentious, the Reproductive Health and Responsible Parenthood Bill guaranteeing access to modern contraception, sex education, and obstetric care was first filed in 1998—but was not passed for 13 years due to Catholic Church opposition. Even after the 2012 success of tireless women’s movement advocacy, the Philippines’ Supreme Court was able to halt implementation for five more years, highly influenced and lobbied by the Catholic Bishops Conference (in a harbinger of authoritarianism). Ironically, it was Duterte who signed an Executive Order mandating the implementation of the Reproductive Health Bill upon his election—even as he was turning against women’s rights—due to concerns about the Philippines’ population crisis and rivalry with the Church on other issues including their defense of human rights. (Dañguilan 2018). Moreover, there is still a refusal to comply with the law at an individual level, at schools, and in local administrations.   Overall, Duterte has fostered a new wave of misogyny, persecution of women’s groups, and violations of women’s rights. From the beginning of his campaign, he made misogynist jokes about sexually assaulting women. Since his election, he has moved from passing comments to encouraging rape and excusing war crimes. In a speech to former communist soldiers in Malacañang about counter-insurgency tactics against female guerrillas, Duterte said "There’s a new order coming from the mayor, ‘We will not kill you. We will just shoot you in the vagina.” 7   In another address to the military, Duterte said he would take responsibility for soldiers raping three women during the siege of Marawi City: “If you had raped three, I will admit it, that’s on me.” 8

Gender-based violence is pervasive, affecting at least one of four Philippine women, while one of every five children has experienced sexual violence.

Along with general persecution of journalists and political opponents, Duterte has shown a special propensity to persecute female political leaders accompanied by violent sexual imagery. He has imprisoned prominent critic Senator Leila de Lima on trumped up charges (that have been internationally condemned). The Duterte Administration has also pursued crusading online journalist and Rappler founder Maria Ressa with “cyber-libel” arrest and death threats. 9     Duterte’s administration has attacked traditional allies of the women’s movement—like indigenous groups and leftist groups—with arrest, assassination, and “red-tagging,” which labels opponents officially designated as “subversive” for attacks by murky paramilitary forces with ties to authorities. 10   Indigenous women have been specifically targeted for sexual violence in conflict zones, and little has been done by the authorities to respond to complaints. Members of the Lumad (a tribal group from Mindanao) have been driven from their ancestral homes and rape has been used as a weapon to scare away returning families. 11     In a more direct assault on women’s organizations, Duterte has labeled women’s groups as “gaga” (meaning, stupid women), and takes every opportunity to belittle the efforts of political women. Women’s organizations as a whole continue to face long-term problems of funding and cooperation at the Barangay (local government) level and implementation lags for funds and programs designated by the model legislation that was secured by a generation of struggle. 12   Both the political and civil society organizations of Gabriela are under heavy surveillance. Volunteers and staff have been followed, received text threats including rape and murder, and if they go on radio programs, bomb threats will be called in. The chapters outside of Manila are experiencing even more persecution and violence than the headquarters. Gabriela cannot gather or hold formal meetings in Mindanao due to martial law. There are Gabriela members in jail on trumped up charges, including illegal possession of firearms and arson, and many have been arrested under warrants with false or blank names.  Members have even been kidnapped by the armed forces. The current general secretary, Ms. Joms Salvador, is facing perjury charges while the vice chair is also facing charges. The government discriminates against Gabriela for access to resources and funds, and the organization is under investigation by the securities and exchange commission. 13

The Philippines fits the common pattern among  our project’s cases  of negative international modeling with respect to repression carried out under its militarization of the War on Drugs and long-standing military collaboration with the United States. However, the Philippines has also rejected international efforts at aid conditionality and human rights criticism in the United Nations, with Duterte rejecting aid from the countries who signed a U.N. Resolution—against the advice of his own generals. 14   Another difference from authoritarianisms elsewhere is the contradictory role of religion: Since Catholicism is not mobilized by the nationalist leader, it operates to defend some rights even as it opposes others.    The experience of the Philippines shows that authoritarian regimes can undermine even decades of progress supported by strong women’s movements, because in a negative as well as positive sense, “women’s rights are human rights.” The toxic combination of nationalism, patriarchy, and securitization leads to a direct war on women and rights defenders—and it also disables social progress, the rule of law, and the state’s capacity to provide a foundation for all rights. As the people of Brazil, Russia, and Turkey (among others) have learned, nationalist strongmen ultimately cannot protect their societies from the crises of globalization, because they fail to address the fundamental structural problems that lead to inequality, crime, and chronic violence against half the population.

1. See:  https://www.aseantoday.com/2017/03/education-inequality-poverty-a-paradox-in-the-philippines/ See also: . https://www.philstar.com/business/2017/11/22/1761419/filipinos-wealth-declines-2017-inequality-widens   2. See:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50236481

3. See:  https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/philippines   4. Brysk, Alison.  The Struggle for Freedom From Fear: Contesting Gender Violence at the Frontiers of Globalization . Oxford University Press, 2018.   5. Among them were the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995, 1995 Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act, the Anti-Rape Act of 1997, the Rape Victims Assistance Act, An Act Declaring Unlawful the Matching of Filipino Mail Order Brides to Foreigners, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004, and a 2010 Magna Carta of Overseas Migrant Workers.   6. See:  https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/03/14/1901344/gender-based-violence-still-prevalent-philippines   7. See:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/13/philippines-rodrigo-duterte-orders-soldiers-to-shoot-female-rebels-in-the-vagina   8. See:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/27/rodrigo-duterte-jokes-to-soldiers-that-they-can-women-with-impunity   9. See   https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/27/19/us-senate-panel-passes-amendment-to-ban-entry-of-ph-officials-who-jailed-de-lima See also:  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/magazine/rappler-philippines-maria-ressa.html   10. Amnesty International, “Philippines: Stop Red-tagging, Investigate Killing of Activists,” 24 June 2019, Index number: ASA 35/0587/2019.   11. See:  https://www.mindanews.com/mindaviews/2017/12/fieldwork-reflection-are-surigaos-lumads-the-philippines-rohingyas/   12. See:  https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/gender-issues/85640-women-girls-violence-ph   13. Interviews with Gabriela, September 2019.   14. See:  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-25/duterte-rejects-millions-of-dollars-in-aid-to-defend-drug-war

human rights

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Alison Brysk is Mellichamp Professor of Global Governance and Human Rights in the Department of Global Studies at UC Santa Barbara. 

Jesilyn Faust is a PhD candidate in the Department of Global Studies at UC Santa Barbara.

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Women in the philippines: inspiring and empowered.

Here in Asia Society Philippines, positions are held mostly by women.  This is somehow an affirmation of the 'women-friendly' societal conditions of the country.  Although this is only a small portion of a large and competitive professional community, reflections of the nation's recognition of the role and importance of women are evident on aspects such as justice, education, economics, politics and health.  The last is still a debatable topic, with the current issue of the Reproductive Health Bill in the Philippine Congress.  Nevertheless, the country has evolved from depicting women as only subservient and modest individuals to powerful nation builders and leaders.  It would be an understatement that this could all be attributed to the efforts of the government, but it could not be denied that a democratic state stamped the gateway of the formalization of women protection through the Constitution and its supporting statutes.   

Justice. This is characterized, according to Newsweek , by 'laws protecting women from domestic violence, adolescent marriage and marital rape, and also women’s access to land and bank loans'. The Philippines has a handful of legislations that address the problems of abuse and violence against women.  One of these is Republic Act No. 9262, known as the "Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004", that provides the penalties for such offenses.  The 'Anti-Rape Law of 1997' is also a good example.  One of its key components is the concept of 'marital rape', which protects married women from sexual abuse by their husbands.  In short, the Philippines has, not enough but, ample number of laws that ensure the protection of women.  There is still a need to solidify policies for prostitution, cyber and media exploitation of women, but this does not mean that no such laws exists to protect them.  The challenge is to effectively improve and implement them.

Education .  This is probably one of the areas that women have excelled on in the Philippines.  Education has been, for a long time, open to all gender since the American Thomasites have started their academic institutions, which the Spanish tradition of primarily accepting male students.  Not only are the girls in this contemporary period enjoy equality but also outshines their biological counterparts.  According to the National Statistics Office of the Philippines (as of 2003), the basic and functional literacies of women in the country are 90.4% and 86.3% compared to the 80.6% and 81.9% of that of the males.  This does not imply a somehow 'battle of the sexes', but shows that the Philippines hosts a sphere of gender equality for a healthy academic competition.

Economics.  Business and industries are still male-dominated fields, but this does not mean that the women in the Philippines are just on the sidelines.  Females in business are actually on the rise.  Some companies in the Philippines actually prefer to hire females due to their consistent work ethic and professionalism.  There are also top female business executives, like members of the Asia Society Philippines' Board of Trustees: Ms. Tessie Sy-Coson and Ms. Doris Magsaysay-Hoy.  The former is a 'retail royalty'.  She is the vice-chairman of SM Investments and hailed by the Fortune Magazine as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in the World.  The latter, on the other hand, is a 'shipping heiress'.  She is the head of the Magsaysay Maritime, the largest manning company in the Philippines.  A lot of women are now making their way up in the ladder of corporate bureaucracies.  This is shift from the stereotype housewives to emerging group pf professionals.

Politics .  Since the Commonwealth, Filipino women have been enjoying the right to suffrage and eligibility to public offices through the Act No. 4112, approved by then Pres. Manuel L. Quezon.  Although men mostly hold public offices, women have likewise made their presence felt.  It is the Philippines who produced the first female president in Asia-- Corazon C. Aquino.  Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was its second.  The Senate and the House of Representatives also have its women legislators, like Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Pia Cayetano and Loren Legarda.   The "Party-list System Act" also open doors for more awareness about the needs of women in the Lower House.   Gabriela , a party-list group forwarding the interests of women, has consistently won a congressional seat in the past elections.  The participation of women in Philippine governmental processes is predominantly a growing spectrum.

Health . This is probably, among the other aspects, the waterloo of the Philippines.  In the Newsweek list, the country received only a 57.0 mark.  This is relatively low compared to education, politics, justice and economics.  This may be attributed to high death rates of women giving birth.  The Reprodructive Health Bill is presently the most controversial topic in the country.  WIth the country's deep Catholic faith,  the whole nation, specifically the Congress, is divided whether this is beneficial to women or not, particularly.  The future of this bill, if it will be promulgated into a law, is still unknown since debates are on-going.

Although the Philippines still has rooms for improvement in addressing issues concerning women, it is by-far a great place to become a woman.  One of the best things that your country could probably give to you is the chance to aspire and create your own future without unfair limits.  The Philippines could set an example to its Asian neighbors on how to move-on from traditional mindsets and accept that everyone deserves equal opportunities and treatment regardless of appearance, size, color, age and gender.  

This post originally appeared on Asia Blog .

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Women's Suffrage: How the Filipina Won the Right to Vote

Lorena Barros once said that the “new Filipina is first and foremost, a militant.” But Filipinas have been militant for decades before Lorena uttered her famous phrase.

One episode in this history was on April 30, 1937, when Filipino women convinced the National Assembly to overwhelmingly approve the  Woman’s Suffrage Bill,  granting them the right to vote. Led by some of the nation’s most dignified and heroic women, it was a struggle that lasted over three decades.

The Struggle from Above

The story begins in 1905. The United States of America had recently concluded its invasion of the Philippines, and the country was now firmly in American hands. Philippine society was charging headfirst into the 20th century, and with it, were changes in almost every aspect of Filipino life.

The Revolutionary War, and subsequent American colonization, brought with it something almost equivalent to a total upheaval of Filipino society. In the country’s vast countryside, the war was far from over as figures like  Miguel Malvar and  Macario Sakay continued their protracted war from the mountains. Meanwhile, legislators from Manila enacted the Homesteading Act, annulling all previous land titles and allowing American businesses free rein in acquiring as much land as they want.

Inside Manila’s urban centers, workers organized into unions and started clamoring for political rights. The first Labor Day celebration occurred in 1903 and was attended by 100,000 workers led by the  Union Obrera Democratica . By all accounts, it was only beginning.

But the focus of this story lies somewhere else near Tondo: with a middle-class woman named  Concepcion Felix Roque  and her association, the  Asociacion Feminista Filipina . With Felix Roque were 12 other women, including Jose Rizal’s sister  Trinidad .

Felix Roque and her companions were at the time part of the social purity movement—a push from middle- and upper-middle-class women of the age against what they considered “immoral virtues” like gambling and prostitution. Suffrage was the last thing on their minds; they simply wanted a virtuous life for Filipinas everywhere.

To that end, the Asociacion supported campaigns against drinking, gambling, and prostitution and implemented moral campaigns in schools and factories. They also sought to include women in local boards of education and municipal committees, as well as worked for reforms in labor rights, health care, and the prison system.

Their efforts were successful enough that, by 1906, there was another feminist organization in the Philippines—the  Asociacion Feminista Ilongga.  Its founder was  Purificacion Garcia Villanueva , who, in 1908, would be the first “Queen of the Manila Carnival” and would eventually marry  Teodoro M. Kalaw .

Pura Kalaw’s drive energized the burgeoning movement. Felix Roque recognized that women held no legal rights in Philippine society, but was reluctant to push for reform. Instead, she sought the support of a group of doctors to help her push legislation. Kalaw, meanwhile, campaigned for suffrage. Eventually, in 1907, Congressman Vicente Sotto presented a bill to the First Philippine Assembly pushing for women’s suffrage.

The bill was shot down, however. Legislators were afraid that giving women the right to vote would destroy the fabric of the Filipino family—an argument rooted in feudal notions of “family values” and the woman’s role in society. 

Rise of Women’s Organizations

The fight for women’s suffrage did not end in 1907. Five years later in 1912, two suffragettes,  Carrie Chapman Catt  and  Dr. Aletta Jacobs , arrived in the Philippines to meet with Kalaw and Felix Roque. At the time, the two were more interested in socio-civic programs, but Catt eventually convinced them to be more political. They formed the  Society for the Advancement of Women  to encompass the need for women’s rights and equality. The Society was later on renamed the  Women’s Club of Manila .

Although they were at first called “reluctant suffragettes,” the Women’s Club managed to continually exert pressure and gain the support of the American colonial regime, including Francis Harrison, Leonard Wood, and Frank Murphy. 

In 1920, Felix Roque and two other women presented a petition signed by over 18,000 women to the Philippine Assembly. The petition was unfortunately shot down once again.

During this time, and in the intervening years, the suffragette movement gained traction. In 1920, the Women’s Club formed the  League of Women’s Suffragettes . The next year, the  National Federation of Women’s Clubs  was established with the express purpose of pushing for the right of women to vote. Two more organizations were prominent at this time: the  Liga Nacional de Damas Filipinas  in 1922 and the  Women’s Citizens League  in 1928.

These efforts were eventually met with success: In 1933, governor-general  Frank B. Murphy  signed the  Woman’s Suffrage Bill , giving the suffragists an early victory. Or so they thought.

The 1935 Constitution and the emergence of the Commonwealth proved to be another problem. The Woman’s Suffrage Bill stipulated that a plebiscite take place and that the right of suffrage will be extended to women if “not less than three hundred thousand women” voted in the affirmative.

The suffragists took to the challenge. Prominent women leaders including  Natividad Almeda Lopez ,  Pilar Hidalgo Lim, Geronima Pecson,   Josefa Jara Martinez , and  Josefa Llanes Escoda  mobilized women from all sectors to get them to vote. This included a multilingual radio program broadcast all over the country on the eve of the voting day.

The vote eventually came on April 30, 1937. In total, 447,725 women, or 91 percent of all eligible voters, voted to extend the right to vote to women. It was an overwhelming victory.

Legacy of Women’s Struggle

Today Filipino women make up a significant sector in Philippine democracy. Two years after winning the right to vote, Geronima Pecson was the first woman to become Senator. Since then, women have continued the fight for rights and equality.

During the Marcos years, women took to the streets once more to demand their rights. Figures like beauty queen  Maita Gomez  and  Lorena Barros  would form the  Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan  (MAKIBAKA) and protest inequality and sexism in Philippine society. During martial law, MAKIBAKA was forced to go underground, but it never gave up the banner of women’s liberation.

In 1984, Filipina nuns, mothers, and women from all sectors convened the  General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action  and were one of the decisive forces during the EDSA People Power Revolt of 1986. Today, GABRIELA continues to push for women’s rights against abuse and other forms of inequality.

It seems hard to imagine a time when women didn’t enjoy the rights that exist today, but we must remember that the rights and freedoms that we have now were built on the sweat and efforts of thousands of women from generations before. Today, the fight is far from over, and women all over the country still face oppression and inequality in many forms. But just like Pura Kalaw and Concepcion Felix Roque, we must be determined to struggle if we are to succeed.

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Protecting Women’s Human Rights: A Case Study in the Philippines

18 HUMAN RIGHTS BRIEF 21 (2011)

8 Pages Posted: 8 Sep 2021

University of Miami - School of Law

Arwen Joyce

Independent

Priscila McCalley

Georgetown University, Law Center

Neil Pacamalan

Xavier University Center for Legal Assistance

Date Written: 2011

The Republic of the Philippines (Philippines) became independent in 1946, throwing off over 300 years of Spanish rule and another 50 years of American rule. However, the legacy of colonialism lives on in Philippine laws. As with all former colonies, the Philippine legal system reflects its multi-layered history. For women, this has meant the continuation of oppressive patriarchal laws, legitimizing their husband’s rule over them. This dynamic stands in stark contrast to the equality of rights for men and women codified in the Philippine Constitution and international human rights treaties the country has ratified.

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Fast Facts: Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in the Philippines

August 1, 2013.

Gender equality is well advanced in the Philippines. The country scores well on international gender equality measures and indices, but more is needed to sustain the achievements and to overcome remaining challenges. Despite a favorable policy environment – the Philippines is signatory to international human rights instruments and has successfully enacted policies and laws for the protection and promotion of women’s rights - the implementation of policies appears uneven and slow.

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Feminism and the Women's Movement in the Philippines: Struggles, Advances, and Challenges: COUNTRY STUDY

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Ending Violence against Women and Children in the Philippines: Opportunities and challenges for collaborative and integrative approaches

Attachments.

Executive Summary

While the fields working to end VAC and VAW have largely developed separately, recent reviews and analyses of large datasets have identified multiple intersections between VAC and VAW including: co-occurrence, shared risk factors, similar underlying social norms, common consequences, intergenerational effects, and the period of adolescence as unique period of heightened vulnerabilities to both types of violence. These intersections suggest that collaboration between the sectors is essential to a more effective prevention and response. Integration of certain aspects VAC and VAW prevention and response across services, programmes, and policies may also be advantageous. However, there are key areas of divergence between the traditional approaches in the VAC and VAW fields that have created challenges to collaboration and may suggest some disadvantages to fully integrative approaches. To date there are no evidence-based or widely accepted integrative models.

This multi country study, commissioned by UN Women, UNICEF and UNFPA, explored existing examples of collaboration and integration of VAC and VAW policies, services, and programmes, as well as challenges and future opportunities in the East Asia and Pacific region, with a focus on four countries – Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Viet Nam.

Key research questions This research initiative sought to answer following overarching questions through dialogues and interviews with relevant stakeholders in each country:

What are the existing VAW and VAC policies, action plans, programmes (prevention) or services (response/support)?

What are some examples of policies, action plans, programmes, or services where there is some evidence of VAW and VAC integration (i.e.: addressing both VAW and VAC at the same time)? Include any efforts to try to develop cohesive strategies or plans or collaboration.

How do VAW-focused and VAC-focused stakeholders collaborate or interact? How do donors drive the VAW-VAC agenda?

What are the areas of tension between VAC and VAW work? How do various stakeholders address areas of tension between VAW and VAC?

a. Under what circumstances are boy-children accommodated in places of safety?

b. How are adolescents’ complex needs met and rights protected?

c. How are mothers viewed and “processed” in VAC cases?

• What are some opportunities within the existing policies, action plans, programmes or services where integration and/or collaboration could be introduced or enhanced?

Key findings

Violence against children (VAC) and violence against women (VAW) affect the lives and welfare of millions of people around the world. Many women and children in the Philippines suffer multiple types of violence. The multiple negative sequelae of this violence can be long-lasting throughout the lifespan and across generations as well as impacting on individuals, relationships, communities, and broader society.

Agenda and priorities

• The Philippines has good quality national prevalence data on some forms of VAW and VAC; however, administrative data are poorly coordinated thus not allowing for a holistic picture to understand gaps between national prevalence and service delivery.

• There is no mechanism to ensure national prevalence data on VAC are regularly collected. VAW data is regularly obtained from the National Demographic and Health Survey.

• While there are no data or studies to date on VAW-VAC intersections in the Philippines, stakeholders are aware of various important

intersections in vulnerabilities. Structured data collection protocols or studies would provide useful evidence for policy and programming.

• Improved access to and analysis of reliable data, as well as dissemination of findings, could assist in strategic funding or budget guidelines for the gender and development budget and the child protection budget. Government, legislation and policy • Multiple government departments have a role in both VAC and VAW and serve on the InterAgency Council on Violence Against Women and Their Children (IACVAWC): Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, Department of Justice, Department of Health, Department of Education, Department of Labor and Employment, Civil Service Commission, Commission on Human Rights, Council for the Welfare of Children, National Bureau of Investigation, and National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women. This committee did not appear to drive specific integration efforts.

• The Philippine Commission on Women is the primary policy-making and coordinating body on women’s empowerment and gender equality.

• The Philippine Plan of Action to End Violence Against Children includes roles for DSWD, the Department of Education, Department of Justice, Council for the Welfare of Children and the Department of Interior and Local Government.

• The main pieces of legislation applicable to VAC and VAW are Anti Child Abuse Law (RA 7610), Anti-Rape Law (RA 8353), and Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004 (RA 9262).

• While there are councils and committees set up to address VAC and VAW and many service providers see both VAC and VAW survivors, there are no formal integration policies or programming guidelines.

Access to justice

• VAW desks at the barangay or village level facilitate access to justice and support services for VAW and VAC survivors primarily through referral to the Women and Child Protection Desk (WCPD) at police stations.

• Protection Orders, mediation, settlement, conciliation, or arbitration are remedies offered to survivors within the barangay level but the WCPD can refer cases for review to enter the court system.

• There are multiple barriers to accessing justice including a large burden on victims to collect evidence from multiple sources, long and drawn out justice procedures, lack of sensitive or protective judicial processes (especially for children), as well as economic and social stigma issues.

• There are no guidelines for examining intersections between VAW and VAC in any of the judicial or law enforcement protocols.

Response and support services

• There are referral guidelines for VAC and VAW survivors but these have not been integrated nor do they address intersectionality.

• While individual service providers may take an integrative approach when dealing with a VAW or VAC case, this is not protocol-driven. Most service providers called for a separation and specialization of VAC and VAW cases.

• Women and Child Protection Units (WCPU) are usually based within hospitals; however, again, there are not specific integration protocols that provide guidance on managing the various intersections between VAC and VAW but rather that adult and child survivors can access services from this Unit. The intake form for VAW cases includes a query on the children’s welfare. There is collaboration between medical doctors, social workers, and police officers under WCPU; however, they are unable to complete forensic rape examinations because they do not have the facilities or kits available.

• There are few shelters available to women and children and most of them are consistently at or over capacity. Many shelters house both domestic violence survivors and trafficking victims. The shelter provides various services including psychological, livelihood strengthening, social services, medical and dental, dietary services, and orientation to the laws that protect women in the hopes that the women will be able to live independently and seek help if they experience violence again.

Few shelters will accept repeat visits from the same survivor. The shelters are not designed for children. However, in some cases women arrive with their children and the shelters are forced to accommodate them. They generally do not accommodate boys over age 7. There are Havens for Children (separate ones for girls and for boys) but these homes are also for children in conflict with the law, trafficking victims, or orphans thus are not ideal for children having to leave violent homes with their mother. There are no recovery or support services for children within the women’s shelter.

• Adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable because neither the children’s home nor the women’s shelter has the capacity to serve such cases. Therefore, they are often sent to shelters run by non-governmental organiztions (NGOs) if such support is needed.

Humanitarian emergencies

• As in other countries, humanitarian emergencies appear to offer good opportunities for innovation and collaboration on VAC and VAW issues; however, this rapid partnership work does not usually translate into ongoing cohesive and collaborative programming.

• A recent example in the Philippines is the response to Typhoon Haiyan during which GBV Watch Groups led by women were initiated by a local NGO to patrol communities to enhance protection of women and children. These Watch Groups are continuing in the communities and there are plans to initiate them in other communities in rural areas.

• It would be useful to conduct a postemergency analysis to glean lessons learned and key success strategies to collaborative and innovative efforts that address both VAW and VAC in an integrative way.

Prevention programming

• Many stakeholders interviewed for this study considered secondary prevention approaches – for example early identification of and intervention with victims to prevent an escalation or recurrence of violence – as the main effort to prevent VAW and VAC.

• Awareness-raising was the most commonly described approach to primary prevention of VAW and VAC; however, this approach has been shown to be ineffective in preventing violence.

• Economic empowerment of women (especially survivors of violence) was a prevention strategy used by some NGOs and shelters but no evaluation data on prevention of either VAW or VAC were available for these.

• There are some prevention programmes engaging men lead by MSWD and DSWD.

• UNICEF Philippines has supported some positive parenting programmes to prevent VAC but these have not addressed VAW prevention.

• UNFPA worked with the Department of Education to operationalize school-based Comprehensive Sexuality Education, under the mandate of the national Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law. The curricula is in accordance with international standards and includes components covering gender-based violence and gender equality.

• UN Women is supporting a Safe Cities project to reduce sexual harassment in public spaces.

• Some NGOs have engaged in various prevention projects including addressing problematic gender norms within religious communities to prevent VAW, and preventing online exploitation of youth.

• While prevention programming is, theoretically, a key opportunity for integration of VAW and VAC work, most prevention programmes lack strong evaluations of outcomes and impact available, thus making it difficult to understand the effectiveness of different approaches.

Further, VAC and VAW projects tend to focus on different sets of outcomes making it difficult to gain insight into integrative, accelerative, or cross-cutting impacts on both VAC and VAW.

Integration of VAW and VAC approaches

• It appears that collaboration has worked best when VAW and VAC stakeholders come together on a specific issue (e.g., statutory rape, humanitarian crisis) rather than more broad. This means that there are no overarching efforts at dealing with areas of divergence to develop an overall integrative way forward. This focused kind of collaboration also means that some areas of convergence or synergy between VAW and VAC work may be missed.

Recommendations

• In general, the study participants suggested that integration was not an approach they felt was ideal and there were repeated calls for separated, specialized policies, services, and programmes to address VAC and VAW. However, given the lack of resources as well as the existence of several services that address both VAC and VAW, it seems that pursuing some integrative or collaborative VAC-VAW approaches are warranted.

• Services and programming for adolescents is a particular gap in the Philippines. Generally, adolescents are considered children under the law. More advocacy, research, and innovation is needed to meet adolescents’ needs with regard to VAC and VAW.

• Intake forms and referral guidelines could be reviewed to prompt integrative case management for VAW and VAC survivors.

• VAW and VAC stakeholders, including UN agencies, may engage in a mapping activity to understand the various approaches they are taking and find synergies or strategic opportunities for integration or other kinds of collaboration. This activity could lead into work to develop a theoretical framework of integrative VAC-VAW approaches that are relevant and feasible within the Philippines taking into account the varied resources and needs in different parts of the country.

• Staff at WCPUs, WCPDs, and the VAW desks would benefit from on-going training and capacity building in both VAW and VAC issues - it appears that separate, specialist units are unlikely and therefore service providers will have to continue to work with both VAC and VAW survivors.

• Improvements in both national prevalence and administrative data collection and management could provide opportunities for research on adolescent issues, and intersections between VAC and VAW. The availability of reliable and high quality data could inform ongoing policy, programming, and service work to comprehensively and effectively address VAC and VAW in the Philippines.

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Overcoming barriers to women’s work in the Philippines

Helle buchhave, nadia belhaj hassine belghith.

The current status of women in the Philippines is both a cause for optimism and a reason to accelerate efforts for promoting better access to jobs for all women. On several fronts, the Philippines is a best performer when it comes to gender equality in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region and even globally. In the latest Global Gender Gap report, the Philippines occupies the 17th place, with 78.4% of its overall gender gap closed to date. This performance is the second best in the EAP region, after New Zealand. A key driver behind the progress has been the Philippine Magna Carta for Women, a landmark law signed nearly 13 years ago seeking to eliminate discrimination against women. 

With the impressive performance in closing key gender gaps, it is therefore striking that women’s labor force participation remains persistently low. At just 49%, the Philippines’ female labor force participation in 2019 was one of the lowest in the EAP region (regional average rate is 59%). In contrast, 76% of Filipino men were in the labor force, creating a massive gender gap. Progress towards closing the gap has been minimal and female labor force participation has remained roughly the same since 1990, with the gap shrinking by a mere 0.3 percentage points since 2015. 

Women’s low labor force participation represents a missed opportunity for economic growth and increased prosperity in the Philippines. An increase of women’s labor supply by a mere 0.5 percentage points per year would increase gross domestic product (GDP) per capita by about 6% by 2040 and almost 10% by 2050.  

In our recent report, Overcoming the Barriers to Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Philippines , we set out to better understand what is holding women back from the labor market and what is hindering the Philippines’ gain from the growth potential associated with women’s economic empowerment. We document that childcare and social norms about gender roles in the household play a critical role in holding back women’s participation in the labor market in the Philippines. The report adds to our research across the EAP region offering evidence on the linkages between constraints to women’s labor force participation and access to childcare services in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Solomon Islands, and Vietnam . 

What are the barriers to women’s labor force participation in the Philippines? We find four main answers:

Skills. Women who work are mostly concentrated in low skill positions (due to economic necessity) or high skill occupations (because of high rates of education). Women in low skill positions work to avoid falling further into poverty, whereas women in high skill occupations tend to select into the labor force with high earnings potential. Although many women work in private establishments or are self-employed, an important share (around 10%) of women are employed without pay in family-owned businesses and as domestic workers, occupations which tend to offer narrower avenues for skills development and career growth. Men on the other hand represent only 4% in these occupations. An important lesson from the COVID-19 lockdown was that more than a third of women (35%) who remained employed were able to work from home as compared to 19% of men. The pandemic has also opened some new working-from-home opportunities with industries such as business process outsourcing and e-commerce . 

Wage gap. Women earn more on average than men, but women in low skill positions earn much less than men. In families with both men and women being low skilled workers, the household income will suffer significantly less if the female engages in unpaid work than if the man does. In low skill positions, the daily wage is over 50% higher for men than for women, whereas in high skill occupations, the daily wage is about 20% higher for women than for men.  

Care responsibilities. The number of children reduces the likelihood of women’s employment. A large proportion of women are held back from productive employment opportunities by their family responsibilities and the concentration of women in high-skill positions declines considerably when they have young children. Having been married and having a young child aged 0 to 2 years old decreases the probability of women’s participation in the labor market by 7-14 percentage points. The presence of domestic help reduces this negative effect, reflecting how economic inequalities reinforce gender disparities.

Norms. Attitudes and beliefs about women’s roles and responsibilities decrease the probability of women’s engagement in the labor market by 14 to 22 percentage points (ISSP Family and Changing Gender Roles Survey and World Values Survey).  According to our 2021 nationally representative survey on women’s work and childcare, 75% of male and 80% of female respondents agree that a man’s job is to earn money and a woman’s job is to take care of the family and home. More than 70% of men and 76% of women believe that the emotional and psychosocial development skills of a preschool child suffers with a mother working outside the home (a belief that stands in contract to global research see for example Devercelli and Beaton-Day 2020). Moreover, willingness to use childcare services is limited, with over 95% of both men and women believing that childcare should be provided by family members.

What can the government do? We discussed policy recommendations at a recent roundtable between the World Bank, the Philippines Commission on Women, National Economic and Development Authority, the Department of Education, and Oxfam Philippines. Key outcomes were that findings highlight the need for policies and programs that increase female labor force participation in the Philippines by i) providing alternatives to childcare in the home; ii) promoting policies supporting flexible work arrangements, including work from home and e-commerce , such as amendment of the Telecommuting Act (Republic Act 11165); and iii) addressing gendered social norms that affect women’s participation in the labor market through media campaigns, behavioral and attitude change interventions that influence opinions about masculinity, gender roles, earlier childhood development, legislation and company policies that equally promotes parents to engage in care responsibilities. 

“We keep gender equality front and center in our work,” according to Ndiame Diop , the World Bank’s Country Director for the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. The World Bank is committed to supporting the Philippines, and one of the priorities of the World Bank’s Philippines FY20-24 Country Gender Action Plan is to increase women’s access to paid labor.   

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• Feminism , humanism , Opinion , Philippines , secularism
• May 13, 2017

Originally posted in ConatusNews  

Written By Danielle Erika Hill and Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Humanism, as an ethical and philosophical worldview, provides the basis for proper action in the world with an emphasis on this world, the natural world. There is a phrase, “deed before creed,” that speaks volumes to the emphasis of humanism. Principles are nice; rights and privileges are good. But how do these affect the world? Answer: through action.

Human rights are a good example. Women’s rights are a better example. There are stipulations in international documents such as the UN Charter speaking to the equal rights of women. It needs action. It’s the same everywhere on that basic need to translate abstract ethics into practical morals.

Take, for example, the situation in the Philippines . Some things are good; other things are bad.

But these are loose statements, and can differ from the enactment of women’s rights, including advocacy and empowerment in the country. So what is the current state of women’s rights in the Philippines? What’s good and bad, and how can things improve?

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner says , “Women’s sexual and reproductive health is related to multiple human rights, including the right to life, the right to be free from torture, the right to health, the right to privacy, the right to education, and the prohibition of discrimination.”

As Olivia H. Tripon instructs from the Philippines Human Rights Reporting Project in 2008 , women have fought for a very long time to be considered human beings deserving of human rights. Filipino women earned the right to vote only as recently as 1937.  Rural and Indigenous women are even more vulnerable.

The Philippines ranks 7th in the World Economic Forum (WEF) Gender Gap Report (2016). Even with a relatively low mark in labour participation, women continue to be encouraged to excel in school and in the workplace. Women in business or positions of leadership are not an uncommon sight in the Philippines.

Filipino women enjoy a high literacy rate. The Philippines consistently earns high marks in terms of equal opportunity in education and employment, where a new law was passed in the Senate extending paid maternity leave to 120 days. And for LGBT women, an Anti-Discrimination Bill had been languishing in the Senate for the past 17 years, but is being debated now.

The initiative is spearheaded by Congresswoman,  Geraldine Roman , the first openly trans woman to be elected to Congress in the Philippines. There are many positive signs within the country, but there are still plenty of negatives.

The Philippines continues to lag significantly behind in some aspects. Filipino women are empowered, development studies say. However, matters of the heart and the vagina do not seem to be included in this empowerment. Even with anti-Violence Against Women (VAW) campaigns by the government, Filipinas are still affected by gender-based violence, which is not limited to socioeconomic or educational status . This includes, but is not limited to, sex trafficking, forced prostitution, and sexual harassment in schools, the workplace, and on the street. Instances of this last one can be seen in Catcalled in the Philippines , a Facebook page where people can anonymously submit personal accounts of harassment.

Great challenges in implementing reproductive health laws and pursuing solutions to sexual health-related issues also exist. Abortion remains illegal and punishable by law (except when necessary to save the mother’s life), even as Human Rights Watch calls equitable access to abortion “first and foremost a human right,” and even access to birth control remains a testy subject, with the Supreme Court having issued a TRO on the sale of female contraceptives.

The Philippines also remains the only country with no divorce laws ; there are provisions in the Family Code for legal separation and annulment, but the sheer expense of the process limits these options only the rich.

Neither does a culture of having serious conversations about sexual health in public exists in the Philippines. Organisations, however, that would rather see the education around it (e.g. the proper use of condoms) not taught in the schools, do. Such groups would like to see the education left to the parents, but in a culture where it is taboo to talk about sex, how does this encourage healthy education around the use of condoms at home? The answer: it does not.

The two “acceptable” methods advocated by the Catholic Church are abstinence and the rhythm method. Of course, both fail to deliver on their purported ends, and contribute to a high rate of teenage pregnancy. Added to this, is a stigma against unwed mothers (if pregnant, the man whodunit is expected to marry her) and the nonexistence of divorce, leaves a woman nominally empowered and oppressed by a deeply patriarchal society where even the notion of childlessness is seen as questionable. The expectation being that women naturally gravitate towards the desire to have biological children in their future, and furthermore have a duty to further the family line.

The taboos around sex do not help Filipino women, or society and culture in the Philippines. A proper sexual education curriculum (which includes safe sex practices, consent, and the variety of contraceptives on offer for men and women) would improve the situation for women in the Philippines. Universal access to evidence-based sexual and reproductive health education for children would be a great first step in this direction.

Another solution is the implementation, or the enforcement, of the stipulation in international documents relevant to women. For example, the UN Charter discusses the rights for women in the Preamble:

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom…

And Article 16:

Article 16.

(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution .

These and other acts protect women and girls’ rights.Through the Philippine Commission on Women, there is the Republic Act 9710, which is the “ Magna Carta for Women .” In it, the Philippine government is devoted to the “ Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women’s (CEDAW) Committee .” CEDAW was ratified in 1981 in the Philippines.

Some stipulations in Republic Act 9710 include the increase of women in third level government positions for a 50-50 balance, leave benefits with full pay, non-discrimination in the military, police, or associated services, equal access and discrimination elimination in the domains of “education, scholarships, and training,” and portrayal of women in mass media. Given the situation for women in the Philippines , the improvement in their livelihoods, especially rural and Indigenous women’s livelihoods, can be overturned fast. This makes the fight for women’s rights in the Philippines a battle that never really ends, and requires continual vigilance in the fight for equality and its requisite protection – however fragile the wins may be.

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Feminism and the Women's Movement in the Philippines: Struggles, Advances, and Challenges COUNTRY STUDY

-The Filipino women's experiences and the roles they played in different historical conjunctures reflected the character of the times and determined the nature of their struggle. -The women's movement in the Philippines has achieved numerous gains in terms of economic, political, and social equality. Nevertheless, a lot of things remain to be done like inequality in political representation and economic opportunities, and aggression and violence brought by the specter of patriarchy that persists up to the present. -While the women's movement in the Philippines demonstrated perpetual growth and momentum, women in the minority like the lesbians, bisexual and the transwomen still grapple for the place of their struggle in the movement. -Feminism and the women's movement in the Philippines face new challenges at the dawn of a new government and the present conditions of the time. The challenge is to persevere and adapt to these changes in order to sustain the women's struggle for freedom, equality, and social justice.

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The research explores the theme of solidarity and mutual empowerment encapsulated in the phrase "Girls Supporting Girls," shedding light on the positive and collaborative dimensions of feminism within this unique cultural context. Concurrently, the investigation navigates the metaphorical "Thorns of Philippine Culture," acknowledging potential challenges and complexities that shape the feminist journey in the Philippines. Through a multifaceted analysis, this study aims to uncover the nuanced relationship between feminism and the rich cultural tapestry of the Philippines, offering insights into the empowering collaborations among women and the obstacles they confront in their pursuit of gender equality.

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This paper gives an overview on to what extent public activism in the Philippines is still gendered and how far it, therefore, disadvantages women. The paper consists of three major topics: (1) observations on women and the public space, (2) an outline of women and formal politics, and (3) a glimpse into gender within civil society and social movements in the Philippines.

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Filipino women who comprise 49.5 percent of the population in the Philippines may seem better off than most women in Asia in terms of benefiting from gender-fair policies. Yet, the continuing discrimination and various forms of violence they experience, especially by those from marginalized groups, are causes for alarm. Some women experience multiple discrimination due to their contexts such as sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ethnicity, health status, disability, culture, or religion. These women would face the risk of experiencing greater inequalities in terms of access to rights—social, economic, and political—and justice.

Marra Jade Gines

The gender situation in the Philippines is characterized by sharp contradictions.It graphically showcases samples of women's advancement in politics, academic and professional excellence, and even legislation. But this is contrasted by images of prostituted women, battered wives, economically disadvantaged women and exploited migrant workers. The socio-cultural traditions are clashing with the MTV and cyberspace generation. The long history of colonialism has embedded a patriarchal culture among Filipinos. The conception of women as full-time homemakers, as subordinated to men, violence against them is private, as reserve labor force, and as sexual objects is now being eroded by modern women asserting themselves in many aspects of life. But on the other hand, some are either marginalized, discriminated, or even exploited by the harsh realities of global economy and consumerism. Both the changes and the inertia of traditions are the backdrop of a very active and dynamic women's movement. The Philippines is a main player in the international women's arena and this is anchored on a very vibrant local women's movement. Numerous organizations and NGOs exist for the cause of gender equality and other related women issues. This puts the gender equality issues at the forefront of national discourse and precludes further downslide of women status in the modern Philippine society. Indeed, there are many handles for the changes to happen. These legal and policy gains resulted from the strong voice of women that started even during the anti-dictatorship struggle that culminated with the ascension of Corazon Aquino as the first woman president of the country. The 1987 Constitution states two prominent provisions. The first in the Declaration of Principles Article II Section 14 which asserted that "The State recognizes the role of women in nation-building and shall ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men." Additionally, the Article XIII-Labor: Section 14 provided that "The state shall protect working women by providing safe and healthful working conditions taking into account their maternal functions, and such facilities and opportunities that will enhance their welfare and enable them to realize their full potential in the service of the nation". Following from constitutional provisions and the subsequent efforts to broaden the its principles, numerous legislation were enacted that relates to the various aspects of women and gender concerns, The list include: Gender and Development Law (5% of government agencies' budget is for gender concerns) Party-List Law (women as a particular sector for representation in the legislature through party-list elections) Anti-Sexual Harassment Law (defining SH and providing mechanisms) Anti-Rape Law (elevation of rape as crime against person)

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The challenge of developing participatory mechanisms of empowerment means overcoming structural inequalities defined by history. Although democratic institutions and processes have been in place for a number of years and Filipino women had the right to vote since 1937, the constraints of male-dominated politics and macho culture have fostered patterns of exclusion which relegated women to subordinate roles in public life. In supplanting a dictator with a woman president in 1986, Filipino women were prompted to claim access to the political stage and, through a constitutional mandate, they began making headway in ensuring their participation in nation building. In an effort to contextualize the initiatives for women empowerment in the Philippines, this paper traces the evolution of the status of Filipino women and discusses the significant policy developments to advance women’s rights.

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Violence against women in the Philippines: barriers to seeking support

Isabel kristine m. valdez.

a College of Medicine, University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines

Ma.Veronica Pia N. Arevalo

Janine patricia g. robredo.

b Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health, Pasig City, Philippines

Sabrina Laya S. Gacad

c Center for Women's and Gender Studies, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

Marie Aubrey J. Villaceran

Gertrudes r. libang.

d General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action (GABRIELA), Quezon City, Philippines

Edelina P. Dela Paz

e Social Medicine Unit, College of Medicine, University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines

Krissi Shaffina Twyla A. Rubin

f Center for Gender Equality & Women's Human Rights, Commission on Human Rights, Quezon City, Philippines

Michelle Ann B. Eala

g College of Medicine, University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines, 547 Pedro Gil Street, Manila, 1000, Philippines

The Philippines is among one of the most gender-equal countries in the Western Pacific region.​​ 1 Nevertheless, it is evident that the sociocultural landscape lags behind: one in four Filipino women has experienced gender-based violence, and 41% of victims do not seek help. 2 Despite existing laws and a widespread local anti-violence against women (VAW) movement, multiple barriers to help-seeking exist, and it is ultimately the economic, sociopolitical and cultural structures in the Philippines hindering VAW victims from seeking support.

Like in other Asian countries, Filipino women are stifled by a patriarchal society emphasizing male dominance in family structures and larger social institutions. 3 Traditionally, Filipino men are household heads and breadwinners; women are deemed subservient, hence economic abuse is common in VAW cases, 4 and a high acceptance of justified wife beating exists. 2 Women's pleasures are considered objects to pursue or control, hence they are regarded as a vulnerability. Few women seek help because of expectations to be self-sacrificing, thus giving up safety and security in favor of family reputation. Defying gender norms invites objectification, shame, guilt, and even justification of violence, hence the culture of victim-blaming. 3

Through public debasing of women, condoning rape jokes and sexual remarks, openly harassing female supporters, associating femininity with weakness, and encouraging the military to “shoot women ‘communist rebels’ in the vagina,” the current administration under President Duterte personifies sexism, shaping society's perception of women. This misogyny is tolerated by many citizens, including some women of power. Coined “feminists of convenience,” these individuals advocate women's rights yet remain silent about the President's behavior for personal and family gains and to avoid political backlash. 3 In their silence, the culture of impunity prevails.

It is apparent that women's rights is not the administration's priority, and this manifests systemically through complex referral pathways, fragmented documentation systems, and a slow judicial process. With stringent policies (curfews, checkpoints, and rationed quarantine passes) restricting mobility, this unsettling reality has intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. VAW victims are trapped in their homes, unable to seek help and alternative shelter. 5 Escalation of VAW-related and help-seeking internet search activity is not coincidental. 6 Moreover, health, social, and legal services are largely inaccessible, a situation exacerbated by the diversion of national resources to the pandemic response. Reproductive health services are disrupted by 77-85%, 7 and the adolescent birth rate is 31 per 1000 women. While 10.1% of all live births occur in the 15-19 age group, only 3.2% of these are sired by men of the same age, 8 suggesting duress and power imbalance. 9

Also vulnerable are women facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, such as transgender women, indigenous women, women with disabilities, poverty-stricken women, and internally displaced women. The additional barriers of stigma, discrimination, State neglect, and harassment from law enforcers contribute to their distrust in the system, making them less likely to report to the police. 5 , 7 Poverty and job insecurity aggravate the situation: women resort to prostitution, and online classes compound the risk of children's sexual exploitation with increased internet exposure. 5 , 11

With the pandemic further threatening women's safety, the priority is ensuring functional, responsive, and accessible VAW responses that are survivor-centered and trauma-informed. Community-based first responders should still be reachable during quarantine. Healthcare providers must be trained for selective enquiry and first-line support of survivors.Referral pathways should be simplified to expedite care and assistance: upon identification of victims, a blanket referral to sexual and reproductive health providers, psychiatric aid, legal assistance, protective shelters, and livelihood assistance can be made. Establishing an active, centralized VAW surveillance system must take into consideration mobility under community restrictions. More accessible communication channels, like social media, must be made available and maximized. Marginalized women should be included in surveillance and protected in legislation, and VAW survivors should be consulted to improve service delivery.

Organizing women, educating them of their rights, promoting rights to pleasure and safety, and encouraging help-seeking behaviors while changing policies that increase vulnerability to VAW will foster women empowerment. Ensuring full implementation of the Magna Carta of Women 10 is imperative in eliminating discrimination. This includes changing gender bias norms, non-discriminatory employment, leave benefits, equal opportunity for education and training, increased information access, and more women in leadership roles to advocate policy reform. Women prefer getting help from their community, 11 hence community-based reporting and response systems should be strengthened in conjunction with bystander education to change sociocultural norms that condone VAW. Ultimately, institutional cultures perpetuating VAW must be tackled with interdisciplinary and intersectoral social and public health interventions, and the community must work hand-in-hand with an accountable government to end VAW in the Philippines.

Contributors

IKMV and MVPNA were in charge of literature search, data analysis, interpretation, and writing. IKMV, MVPNA, JPGR, MABE, SLSG, MAJV, GRL, EDP, and KSTAR all worked to revise and review the manuscript.

Declaration of interests

We declare no conflicts of interest.

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Republic of the Philippines Philippine Commission on Women

Faq: republic act 9710 or the magna carta of women.

Republic Act 9710 or the Magna Carta of Women

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Magna Carta of Women (Republic Act No. 9710)?

The Magna Carta of Women (MCW) is a comprehensive women’s human rights law that seeks to eliminate discrimination through the recognition, protection, fulfillment, and promotion of the rights of Filipino women, especially those belonging to the marginalized sectors of society.

 It is the local translation of the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women’s (CEDAW) , particularly in defining gender discrimination, state obligations, substantive equality, and temporary special measures. It also recognizes human rights guaranteed by the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Why is this law entitled the Magna Carta of Women and not Magna Carta for Women?

In the process of national consultation during the 13th Congress, it was decided to rename the bill to Magna Carta of Women to highlight women’s participation and ownership of the bill.

What is discrimination against women? 

The Magna Carta of Women defines discrimination against women as: 

• any gender-based distinction, exclusion, or restriction which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment, or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field; 
• any act or omission, including by law, policy, administrative measure, or practice, that directly or indirectly excludes or restricts women in the recognition and promotion of their rights and their access to and enjoyment of opportunities, benefits, or privileges; 
• a measure or practice of general application that fails to provide for mechanisms to offset or address sex or gender-based disadvantages or limitations of women, as a result of which women are denied or restricted in the recognition and protection of their rights and in their access to and enjoyment of opportunities, benefits, or privileges; or women, more than men are shown to have suffered the greater adverse effects of those measures or practices; and 
• discrimination compounded by or intersecting with other grounds, status, or condition, such as ethnicity, age, poverty, or religion.

What are the rights of women guaranteed under the Magna Carta of Women ? 

All rights in the Philippine Constitution and those rights recognized under international instruments duly signed and ratified by the Philippines, in consonance with Philippine laws shall be rights of women under the Magna Carta of Women . These rights shall be enjoyed without discrimination since the law prohibits discrimination against women, whether done by public and private entities or individuals. 

The Magna Carta of Women also spells out every woman’s right to: 

• Protection from all forms of violence, including those committed by the State. This includes the incremental increase in the recruitment and training of women in government services that cater to women victims of gender-related offenses. It also ensures mandatory training on human rights and gender sensitivity to all government personnel involved in the protection and defense of women against gender-based violence, and mandates local government units to establish a Violence Against Women Desk in every barangay to address violence against women cases; 
• Protection and security in times of disaster, calamities and other crisis situations, especially in all phases of relief, recovery, rehabilitation and construction efforts, including protection from sexual exploitation and other sexual and gender-based violence. 
• Participation and representation, including undertaking temporary special measures and affirmative actions to accelerate and ensure women’s equitable participation and representation in the third level civil service, development councils and planning bodies, as well as political parties and international bodies, including the private sector. 
• Equal treatment before the law, including the State’s review and when necessary amendment or repeal of existing laws that are discriminatory to women; 
• Equal access and elimination of discrimination against women in education, scholarships and training. This includes revising educational materials and curricula to remove gender stereotypes and images, and outlawing the expulsion, non-readmission, prohibiting enrollment and other related discrimination against women students and faculty due to pregnancy outside of marriage; 
• Equal participation in sports. This includes measures to ensure that gender-based discrimination in competitive and non-competitive sports is removed so that women and girls can benefit from sports development; 
• Non-discrimination in employment in the field of military, police and other similar services. This includes the same promotional privileges and opportunities as their men counterpart, including pay increases, additional benefits, and awards, based on competency and quality of performance. The dignity of women in the military, police and other similar services shall always be respected, they shall be accorded with the same capacity as men to act in and enter into contracts, including marriage, as well as be entitled to leave benefits for women such as maternity leave, as provided for in existing laws; 
• Non-discriminatory and non-derogatory portrayal of women in media and film to raise the consciousness of the general public in recognizing the dignity of women and the role and contribution of women in family, community, and the society through the strategic use of mass media; 
• Comprehensive health services and health information and education covering all stages of a woman’s life cycle, and which addresses the major causes of women’s mortality and morbidity, including access to among others, maternal care, responsible, ethical, legal, safe and effective methods of family planning, and encouraging healthy lifestyle activities to prevent diseases; 
• Leave benefits of two (2) months with full pay based on gross monthly compensation, for women employees who undergo surgery caused by gynecological disorders, provided that they have rendered continuous aggregate employment service of at least six (6) months for the last twelve (12) months ; 
• Equal rights in all matters relating to marriage and family relations. The State shall ensure the same rights of women and men to: enter into and leave marriages, freely choose a spouse, decide on the number and spacing of their children, enjoy personal rights including the choice of a profession, own, acquire, and administer their property, and acquire, change, or retain their nationality. It also states that the betrothal and marriage of a child shall have no legal effect.

The Magna Carta of Women also guarantees the civil, political and economic rights of women in the marginalized sectors, particularly their right to:

• Food security and resources for food production, including equal rights in the titling of the land and issuance of stewardship contracts and patents; 
• Localized, accessible, secure and affordable housing; 
• Employment, livelihood, credit, capital and technology; 
• Skills training, scholarships, especially in research and development aimed towards women friendly farm technology; 
• Representation and participation in policy-making or decisionmaking bodies in the regional, national, and international levels; 
• Access to information regarding policies on women, including programs, projects and funding outlays that affect them; • Social protection; 
• Recognition and preservation of cultural identity and integrity provided that these cultural systems and practices are not discriminatory to women; 
• Inclusion in discussions on peace and development; 
• Services and interventions for women in especially difficult circumstances or WEDC;
• Protection of girl-children against all forms of discrimination in education, health and nutrition, and skills development; and 
• Protection of women senior citizens. 

The Magna Carta of Women defines the marginalized sectors as those who belong to the basic, disadvantaged, or vulnerable groups who are mostly living in poverty and have little or no access to land and other resources, basic social and economic services such as health care, education, water and sanitation, employment and livelihood opportunities, housing security, physical infrastructure and the justice system. These include, but are not limited to women in the following sectors or groups: Small farmers and rural workers, Fisherfolk, Urban poor, Workers in the formal economy, Workers in the informal economy, Migrant workers, Indigenous Peoples, Moro, Children, Senior citizens, Persons with disabilities, and Solo parents.

How can Filipino women living abroad benefit from this law? 

Statistics show that more and more Filipino women are migrating for overseas employment. In many places, women migrant workers have limited legal protections or access to information about their rights, rendering them vulnerable to gender-specific discrimination, exploitation and abuse. 

Section 37 of the Magna Carta of Women mandates the designation of a gender focal point in the consular section of Philippine embassies or consulates. The said officer who shall be trained on Gender and Development shall be primarily responsible in handling gender concerns of women migrant workers, especially those in distress. Other agencies (e.g. the Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Social Welfare and Development) are also mandated to cooperate in strengthening the Philippine foreign posts’ programs for the delivery of services to women migrant workers, consistent with the one-country team approach in Foreign Service. 

Who will be responsible for implementing the Magna Carta of Women ? 

The State, the private sector, society in general, and all individuals shall contribute to the recognition, respect and promotion of the rights of women defined and guaranteed in the Magna Carta of Women . The Philippine Government shall be the primary duty-bearer in implementing the said law. This means that all government offices, including local government units and government-owned and controlled corporations shall be responsible to implement the provisions of Magna Carta of Women that falls within their mandate, particularly those that guarantee rights of women that require specific action from the State. 

As the primary duty-bearer, the Government is tasked to: 

• refrain from discriminating against women and violating their rights; 
• protect women against discrimination and from violation of their rights by private corporations, entities, and individuals; 
• promote and fulfill the rights of women in all spheres, including their rights to substantive equality and non-discrimination. 

The Government shall fulfill these duties through the development and implementation of laws, policies, regulatory instruments, administrative guidelines, and other appropriate measures, including temporary special measures. It shall also establish mechanisms to promote the coherent and integrated implementation of the Magna Carta of Women and other related laws and policies to effectively stop discrimination against Filipino women.

What are the specific responsibilities of government under the Magna Carta of Women ? 

The Magna Carta of Women mandates all government offices, including government-owned and controlled corporations and local government units to adopt gender mainstreaming as a strategy for implementing the law and attaining its objectives. It also mandates (a) planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation for gender and development, (b) the creation and/or strengthening of gender and development focal points, and (c) the generation and maintenance of gender statistics and sex-disaggregated databases to aid in planning, programming and policy formulation. 

Under this law, the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women which will be renamed as the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) shall be the overall monitoring and oversight body to ensure the implementation of the law. As an agency under the Office of the President of the Philippines, it will be the primary policy-making and coordinating body for women and gender equality concerns and shall lead in ensuring that government agencies are capacitated on the effective implementation of the Magna Carta of Women. 

Consistent with its mandate, the Commission on Human Rights shall act as the Gender and Development Ombud to ensure the promotion and protection of women’s human rights. 

The Commission on Audit shall conduct an annual audit on the government offices’ use of their gender and development budgets for the purpose of determining its judicious use and the efficiency, and effectiveness of interventions in addressing gender issues. 

Local government units are also encouraged to develop and pass a gender and development code to address the issues and concerns of women in their respective localities based on consultation with their women constituents. 

What are the penalties of violators? 

If the violation is committed by a government agency or any government office, including government-owned and controlled corporations and local government units, the person directly responsible for the violation, as well as the head of the agency or local chief executive shall be held liable under the Magna Carta of Women . The sanctions under administrative law, civil service or other appropriate laws shall be recommended by the Commission on Human Rights to the Civil Service Commission and the Department of the Interior and Local Government. 

Further, in cases where violence has been proven to be perpetrated by agents of the State, such shall be considered aggravating offenses with corresponding penalties depending on the severity of the offenses. 

If the violation is committed by a private entity or individual, the person directly responsible for the violation shall be liable to pay damages. Further, the offended party can also pursue other remedies available under the law and can invoke any of the other provisions of existing laws, especially those that protect the rights of women. 

How will the implementation of the Magna Carta of Women be funded? 

The Magna Carta of Women provides that the State agencies should utilize their gender and development budgets for programs and activities to implement its provisions. Funds necessary for the implementation of the Magna Carta of Women shall be charged against the current appropriations of the concerned agencies, and shall be included in their annual budgets for the succeeding years. The Magna Carta of Women also mandates the State to prioritize allocation of all available resources to effectively fulfill its obligations under the said law. 

Want to know more about the Magna Carta of Women (MCW) ? Visit this page .

Reference : Magna Carta of Women (Republic Act 9710), Implementing Rules and Regulations

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