As part of the government’s mandate of promoting and protecting women’s rights, the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) on Friday launched its annual 18-day campaign to end violence against women (VAW).
The “United for a VAW-free Philippines” campaign aims to raise awareness of all forms of abuse against girls and women.
“VAW is everyone’s concern. Ending VAW is everyone’s responsibility. Only unity can we achieve a VAW-free community,” PCW Executive Director Kristine Rosary Yuzon-Chavez underscored in her speech during the campaign’s kick-off ceremony at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.
The 18-day campaign activities
The 2022 Philippine National Demographic and Health Survey revealed that one in 4 Filipino women who are aged 15 to 49 have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional violence by their current husband or inmate partner.
Of the three VAW forms, emotional violence was the most reported at 15.3 percent, followed by physical violence at 6.4 percent, and sexual violence at 2.3 percent.
Data from the Philippine National Police, meanwhile, showed a total of 5,399 VAW cases were reported from January to July this year.
To demonstrate that victims of violence are not just merely data and statistics, PCW launched a project called VAW survivor's stories — a video documentary narrating victims' experiences of sexual abuse, human trafficking, and harassment.
PCW also unveiled a video documentary presenting the results of its VAW social experiment that tested Filipinos' reactions and actions when they encountered VAW scenarios such as a man hitting a woman on public transportation, a man touching a woman in a public park, or male traffickers recruiting victims by offering fake job opportunities.
The said experiment also assessed Filipinos' knowledge of laws that protect women from violence.
The PCW marked its 20th year since it joined the international campaign “16 days of activism against gender-based violence.”
To recognize the milestones it had achieved in the last two decades, PCW launched an “orange exhibit” which is a retrospective of how its VAW-free campaign became an instrument in the passage of anti-VAW laws including the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, and the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004, among others.
'Synergize efforts to end VAW'
For this year's campaign, the PCW is also calling for the amendment of the Anti-Rape law and Anti-VAWC.
“We are again utilizing this platform to call for the passage of additional instruments that can safeguard the rights of women against VAW. These include the policy recommendation for Amending the Anti-Rape law, by redefining rape and putting consent at the center, repealing the forgiveness clause, and strengthening rape victim assistance and protection,” Yuzon-Chavez said.
For the Anti-VAWC law, the group is seeking the inclusion of “all forms of violence defined in the Anti-VAWC act as a ground for legal separation.”
The PCW Director encourages the public, advocates, government agencies, and other stakeholders to “synergize efforts” to stop the abuse.
“Let us strive until gender equality propels on a VAW-free society where everyone is treated with respect and dignity, regardless of gender; where women and girls know and stand up for their rights, where men treat women as equals, and were members of the LGBTQIA+ community and the marginalized sector do not have to endure harassment and abuse,” Yuzon-Chavez said.
The VAW-free Philippines campaign activities are open to the public at the PICC until Dec. 12, the day when the world commemorates the enactment of the United Nations protocol to prevent, suppress, and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children law.
