By Sofia Regina P. Yasay | The Red Chronicles
Photo by Marco Angelo Mercado | The Red Chronicles
The 18-day Campaign to End Violence Against Women in the Philippines was held on November 25 to December 12, 2024, it likewise marks twenty years since the passage of Republic Act 9262, or the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children (Anti-VAWC) Act in 2004 which is one of the landmark statutes in tackling gender-based violence in our country.
Gender-based violence, according to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), is an umbrella term for “any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person’s will and that is based on socially ascribed differences between males and females. It includes acts that inflict physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion, and other deprivations of liberty. These acts can occur in public or in private.”
Systematic inequality and gender discrimination between males and females serve as a common factor in many forms of violence perpetrated against women and girls. This leads us to national legislation and international declarations addressing violence against women which has been defined in the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (DEVAW) as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women.”
In the Philippines, RA 9262 defines violence against women as “any act or series of acts committed by any person against a woman who is his wife, former wife, or against a woman with whom the person has or had a sexual or dating relationship, or with whom he has a common child, or against her child whether legitimate or illegitimate, within or without the family abode, which result in or is likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological harm or suffering, or economic abuse including threats of such acts, battery, assault, coercion, harassment or arbitrary deprivation of liberty.”
The 2022 National Demographic and Health Survey published by the Philippine Statistics Authority indicated that nearly 1 out of 5 women faced emotional, physical, or sexual violence from their partners. Among women aged 15 to 49 who have experienced physical or sexual violence, 42% have never sought help or disclosed the violence to anyone. Additionally, 24% told the violence to someone but did not seek assistance, while only 34% actively sought help to stop the violence. In 2023, the Philippine National Police reported 8,055 cases under RA 9262. The Global Gender Gap 2024 Insight Report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked the Philippines 25th in gender parity with a score of 77.9%, reflecting declines in economic participation and political empowerment.
On a global scale, nearly one in three women experienced physical or sexual violence at some point in their lives. In 2023 alone, over 51,000 women were murdered by intimate partners or family members—equating to a woman being killed every 10 minutes. Worse, in areas with conflict, war, and humanitarian crises, approximately 70% of women experience gender-based violence. In the ASEAN Gender Outlook 2024, 22% of women report feeling less safe than they did five years ago, with this figure rising to 25% among the poorest women.
These numbers show that despite significant progress, there remains a gap in gender equality that must be continuously confronted.
Nevertheless, the Philippines enacted laws aimed at eliminating gender-based violence such as RA 7877 (Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995), RA 8353 (The Anti-Rape Law of 1997), RA 9208 (Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003), and RA 9262 (Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004). Since the launch of the Campaign to End Violence Against Women in the Philippines in 2008, several other laws related to violence against women have been enacted or amended, including RA 10364 (Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2013), RA 11313 (Safe Spaces Act) in 2019, RA 11648 (amending The Anti-Rape Law of 1997) in 2022, and RA 11862 (Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2022).
To further facilitate the elimination of violence against women and gender-based violence, it is essential to empower women by educating them about their rights, promoting safety, and encouraging them to seek assistance or help. Strengthening community-based reporting systems, bystander education, and interdisciplinary interventions can shift sociocultural norms and institutional cultures that condone violence. All while advocating and establishing laws and policies that would de-escalate and completely end gender-based violence locally and globally. As such, both national and international stakeholders and actors are called to take measures to address gender discrimination, ensure fair employment practices, provide equal education, improve access to information, and promote women’s leadership to accelerate the effort towards equality.
Note: This article was first published in Volume XVIII, Issue I print edition of The Red Chronicles.