SILLIMAN UNIVERSITY DIVINITY SCHOOL

DUMAGUETE CITY, NEGROS ORIENTAL,

PHILIPPINES

Advocacy Project: Violence

Against Women in the
Philippines

Presented to:
DR. VICTOR AGUILAN
Professor

In partial fulfillment of the subject

THE 26/226- Christian Ethics 2

Submitted by:
Lunil Academia
Jonah B. Bangculot
Ronald Cezar
June Clear Llaban Jaira
Dane C. Paglinawan

Date of Submission:
February 23, 2021
Introduction:

Violence against women, increasingly recognized as one the global problem and a
serious violation of women’s rights. Violence affects women in different ways particularly on
their mental and physical health. It leads to depression, loss of self-esteem, stress,
disconnected to the society, and more severe psychological and physical problems. It
extremely manifests gender inequity, targeting women and girls because of their subordinate
status in the society. Violence and the threats of violence can be experienced by every
woman of any age, skin color, gender identity, ethnicity, religion, disabilities, economic,
and social status. The World Health Organization, which defines health as a state of complete
physical, mental and social well-being, describes domestic violence by male partners as the most
common health risk in the world for women (World Health Organization, 2002).

Intimate partner violence is the most common, widespread, and predominant form of
violence against women. Violence Against Women is any act of gender-based violence that
results or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women
including threats or such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty whether occurring
in public or private life. Violence is that occurs within the private sphere, generally between
individuals who are related through intimacy, blood or law.

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 result of this violence can be long-lasting throughout the
lifespan and across generations as well as impacting on individuals, relationships, communities,
and broader society.

Violence is a blunt reality that women have to struggle with every day. For Filipino
women who wrestle with poverty in a feudal patriarchal context, the
challenge is greater. The intensifying economic and political crisis in the country is increasing
vulnerability of women to gender-based violence. Gruesome stories of violence committed on
women have become common fare in TV, radio, and print media or even in social media.
These are not only individual cases of violence, but many also involve groups of women
such as the cases of sex trafficking, cybersex, pornography, prostitution, and many other more.

This paper has two main objectives. First, it determined the model for the trends of the
reported crime of violence against women in the Philippines. Second, provide prophetic voice in
ministering such oppression to the women in the society and make some possible actions in
dealing such issues regarding to the violence against women.

A. Empirical/Factual level

Violence against women (VAW) appears as one of the country’s pervasive social
problems. According to the 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey conducted by the
Philippine Statistics Authority, one in four Filipino women age 15-49 has experienced physical,
emotional, or sexual violence by their husband or partner. It is indeed alarming that despite
efforts to address the concern, VAW persists.

According to Republic Act 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and their
Children Act of 2004, VAW is “any act or a 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, with 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.”
VAW includes, but not limited to, the following acts:

• Physical violence or the act that includes bodily or physical harm

• Sexual violence or the act that is sexual in nature, committed against a woman or her
child it includes:

a) Rape, sexual harassment, acts of lasciviousness, treating a woman or her child as a sex object,
making demeaning and sexually suggestive remarks, physically attacking the sexual parts of the
victim’s body, forcing her/him to watch obscene publications and indecent shows or forcing the
woman or her child to do indecent acts and/or make films thereof, forcing the wife and
mistress/lover to live in the conjugal home or sleep together in the same room with the abuser;

b) Acts causing or attempting to cause the victim to engage in any sexual activity by force, threat
of force, physical or other harm or threat of physical or other harm or coercion;

c) Prostituting the woman or child.

• Psychological violence or the act or omission that causes or likely to cause mental or
emotional suffering of the victim including harassment, stalking, damage to property, public
ridicule or humiliation, repeated verbal abuse and marital infidelity. It includes causing or
allowing the victim to witness the physical, sexual or psychological abuse of a member of the
family to which the victim belongs, or to witness pornography in any form or to witness abusive
injury to pets or to unlawful or unwanted deprivation of the right to custody and/or visitation of
common children.

• Economic abuse or the act that makes or attempts to make a woman financially dependent
which includes, but is not limited to the following:
1. Withdrawal of financial support or preventing the victim from engaging in any legitimate
profession, occupation, business or activity, except in cases wherein the other spouse/partner
objects on valid, serious and moral grounds as defined in Article 73 of the Family Code;

2. Deprivation or threat of deprivation of financial resources and the right to the use and
enjoyment of the conjugal, community or property owned in common;

3. Destroying household property;

4. Controlling the victims’ own money or properties or solely controlling the

conjugal money or properties

These are just some of the types of violence against women that is very rampant in the
context here in the Philippines. After we identify types of violence against the women based on
the survey, we will now gather some impacts of the violence to the women.

VAW strikes the personhood of women. It does not only affect women’s physical
and reproductive health, but specially their mental and emotional state. It has caused women to
feel ashamed and to lose their self-esteem. It threatens women’s personal security.

VAW limits human development It jeopardizes women’s health and curbs their
capacity to participate in social development. Working women’s productivity decreases due to
frequent absences resulting from VAW. VAW is responsible for one out of every five
healthy days of life lost to women of reproductive age.

VAW further drains the country’s financial resources. The Philippines spent an
estimated P6 billion pesos in 2002 to treat VAW survivors. This amount covered the medical
treatment of VAW injuries, psychological therapies and programs for
survivors, maintenance of shelters, cost of legal and court proceedings to prosecute
perpetrators, training costs of service providers, and other indirect social costs to family
members of VAW survivors and perpetrators.

VAW is an issue of governance. A state promotes good governance when it makes

available effective remedies to eliminate VAW in the homes, in the communities and in the state.

VAW POLICIES AND SERVICES IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Philippines has numerous laws that address violence against women. The 1987
Constitution of the Philippines lays out several provisions on women, which are the basis for
protecting their rights and recognizing their value. The Philippines is also a signatory to the
major international human rights treaties, including the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Optional Protocol, as well as the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). To showcase its commitment to CEDAW, the
Philippine government passed Republic Act 9710 (RA 9710) or the Magna Carta of Women. It is
the local translation of CEDAW provisions and aims to recognize, protect, fulfill, and promote
the human rights of Filipino women through elimination of discrimination. The Republic Act
9262 (RA 9262), also known as the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act, or
the Anti-VAWC Law, is a more specific law that addresses violence against women. This
law criminalizes violence against women and their children and outlines protective measures for
women and appropriate sanctions for perpetrators.

The Anti-VAWC Law includes various services to protect victims of violence against
women. It recognizes violence against women and their children as a public offense, which
allows any citizen with knowledge of the crime to file a complaint. To make reporting more
accessible at the local level, it requires every police precinct in the country to have a women’s
desk, and that a woman police
officer must investigate rape cases. Additionally, every province and city is required to have a
rape crisis center. It also entitles the victims to support from various government services,
including legal assistance, medical assistance, temporary shelter, counseling and psychosocial
services, recovery and rehabilitation programs, and livelihood assistance. However, on the
implementation of the Anti-VAWC Law emphasizes the lack of public awareness and
understanding of the law, for both citizens and public officials.

The Anti-VAWC Law established an Inter-Agency Council on Violence Against Women and
Children (IAC-VAWC) that comprises of government agencies assigned to create programs and
projects to eliminate VAWC according to their various functions. These include:

• Philippine Commission on Women (PCW)

• Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)

• Civil Service Commission (CSC)

• Commission on Human Rights (CHR)

• Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC)

• Philippine National Police (PNP)

• National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 16

• Department of Justice (DOJ)

• Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)

• Department of Education (DepEd)

• Department of Health (DOH)

• Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)

Non-government organizations and women’s human rights advocates also contribute a

significant role in addressing VAWC. The various government services rely on the expertise
NGOs for training and crafting programs. Each government agency has different functions to
address violence against women and children in accordance with the law. At the ground level, the
Women and Children’s Desks required in each Local Government Unit (LGU) are the first to
receive reports about VAWC.

The PNP and the NBI are in charge of investigatory services and procedures for reported
VAWC cases, while the DOH provides medical services, and the DOJ assists with legal and
prosecution services. The DSWD provides psychosocial and rehabilitation services, as well as
temporary shelters, and the LGUs, under the DILG, are also tasked to work with the DSWD in
recovery and livelihood assistance for the victims upon release from the rehabilitation centers.
However, different government agencies have several shortcomings. Not all cities and
provinces had rape crisis centers and most of which were located in large hospitals.

Moreover, the rape crisis centers are mostly located in city centers, which is difficult to
access for those living in the surrounding far-flung villages. Women living in these areas often
do not have the financial means to afford the long commute. In relation, a participant from the
DOH expressed concerns about the lack of resources to establish and maintain a rape crisis
center in every province and believed the centers should be funded by the LGUs. Conversely,
the LGUs also complained about their lack of funds to do so. The existing rape crisis centers are
unable to operate 24 hours a day, which leaves the risk of women to be treated by untrained staff
on the sensitive matter. Some local government units were also found to misuse the five percent
budget allocated for Gender and Development
activities, while others found the budget too little, which made them skeptical to accommodate
all the complaints they receive.

The various government agencies have separate data collection mechanisms, which
makes consolidation and comparison difficult due to the inaccuracies and possible overlaps.
There is no standard monitoring and documentation system, nor is there a central national
institution to collect and monitor the VAWC data across the country (Santos, 2009). This makes
it difficult to comprehend the national situation on VAWC, which is crucial in addressing the
problem and improving its services. In writing, the Philippines has numerous laws and services
that cater to victims of violence against women. Despite that, one out of five women still
experience VAW. Even worse, only six percent of them sought help from the public system. It
indicates that there is still a lack of implementation and awareness of the law, and inefficient
public services.

Interviews:

We interviewed some individuals that can help us to learn more about the violence of
women:

PnP: PCP1 Investigator Jennevib Lanit, OF PNP Sergio Osmeña ZN.,

1. What are some cases reported in your station regarding violence against women?
According to her, “Physical abuse, due to alcohol intake that can drive them to hurt women
physically because they are controlled with liquor. Also, Incest rape, the unwanted sexual
contact, this will happen also to someone whom like the father or from the member of the
family, neighbor, arrived home, got drunk with liquor and no other person in house except
the victim. “
 One of the common cause of abuse is not providing the need of the husband when
it comes to the sexual intercourse that is why they will use the liquor so that they will have
the guts to face to their partner and ask for what they want to ask and if they will not given
the chance that’s the time they will engage in physical abuse.

2. What are the punishment to the abuser?

According to her, the penalties in committing such violation of RA 9262 anti- violence
against Women and Children Act 2004. If the offenders proven in the court to be guilty of
the crime shall be penalized with: Imprisonment 1month and one day to 20 years, payment
of P100, 000 to P300,000 in damages and mandatory psychological counseling or
psychiatric treatment.

MSWD: Ms.Ireen Vailoces, Social Welfare Officer-1

1. What are the common types of violence committed against women in your place or
municipality?
Most common types of violence committed against women in the municipality
includes; physical and economic abuse. Based on 2018-2020 data out of 95 reported
cases 48 or 45% are physical abused, 20 or 21.7% are psychologically abused, 15 or
15.7% are economically abused and 10 or 17.6% on child custody and abandonment
respectively.
2. Where usually the abuse takes place?
The Violence against women is usually takes place in their respective homes were
no one can limit their actions.
3. Who are the common suspects of abuse?
The Common suspects of abuses are their husband and live-in- partners as well.
4. What programs do you have in your municipality regarding this issue and how do
you implement it?
 The Municipality of Mabinay through the Municipal Social Welfare and
Development Office or MSWD, actively participates the yearly celebration on
National Women’s Month every 8Th day of March. Every year, we invited all women
officers and members from 32 barangay to attend the orientation, training and seminar
on Magna Carta of Women and on Gender and Development as well. Its purpose is
to empower women as partners in nation building. It is a whole day activity with invited
guests, visitors and resource speakers to talk about the said topic and tackle issues
and concerns pertaining to women.
5. What are the age bracket of the victims of violence?
Based on 2018-2020 reported cases in the MSWD Office, 18 abused women belongs to
the age bracket 18-25,43 abused women belongs to ages 26- 40 and 34 belongs to the
age bracket 41-65 year old.

NGO: Ms. Sheema B. Bajana, Executive Director, GWAVE

GWAVE started in 2002, when two rural girls abused by a foreign national requested
for assistance. A group of women and men got together to assist the minors by engaging a
lawyer, offering shelter, rendering supportive presence during court hearings. Other cases
were brought by the WCPD or by social workers. The Number of clients varies from time to
time but on average there are 100-120 clients.
GWAVE offers psychosocial interventions to survivors and they refer them to counseling
as well. They were advocates of Violence Against Women, and they fight that women, must be
empowered to speak up and report such abuse so that respective agencies may help them get
out of an abusive situation. Because abused women don’t deserve to be treated in an abusive
manner.

Psychologist: Mr. Kloyd Angelou Torado, PCC Counselor

1. What are the effects of domestic violence particularly in their psychological and
mental health?
 It will create psychological trauma (emotional, social, spiritual)- it is an
emotional response to a terrible event that shatter your sense of security,
making you feel helpless in a dangerous world. Psychological trauma can
leave you struggling with upsetting emotions, memories, and anxiety that
won’t go away. It can also leave you feeling numb, disconnected, and
unable to trust other people.
2. What possible cause of domestic violence?
One of the causes of violence is violence itself. The one of the most influential
factors of violence is the continuation of a generational cycle of abuse and/or a history of
abuse in the family of origin.

In conducting our interview, we heard many stories about the abused women in different
places that leads us to a reflection on what we can do as church workers about these issues;
what is our voice after hearing this sensitive issues? ; What will be our judgement about this
second type of pandemic which is the Violence against women?

B. Normative/Justification level

Research on violence against women is a very difficult and challenging process due to the
sensitive nature of the phenomenon. Despite the sensitivity, reliable information on violence
against women is a crucial element for prevention, treatment and elimination of different forms
of violence.

The concern regarding this issue on Violence against women we can address this to both
approaches, Teleological and Deontological Approach.

Teleological because we are doing this because we are seeking for a good outcome to this
action. We do this advocacy because we want to help those who are victims of violence
especially to the women and we are looking for a positive outcome to this action that they
can go out from the bondage of
violence. At the same, it can be also address to Deontological because we are doing this
advocacy on Violence against Women; we are doing such action to help those who are in need;
we are doing this research because we want to be the voice to the voiceless because we felt that
we have the sense of Duty in doing this as fellow human and as a Christians. Both approaches
can be use in order to address to this concern about violence against women.

C. Metaphysical/Biblico-Theological level

Religion is a personal and institutional reality in the lives of most of the population
in our country, it is no surprise that religious teaching and affiliation provide a significant
context for many women as they address experiences of victimization. Through texts,
traditions, teachings, and doctrine, religious
communities and institutions convey values and belief systems to their members. In addition,
members often have direct support or counseling relationships with religious leaders who may
provide guidance or instruction. Religious texts and teachings can serve as resources to assist
those who have experienced abuse in finding safety and in the process of healing. Yet, religion
also can be misused to excuse or condone abusive behavior. In the context of violence against
women, religious teachings and communities will play a role and they will never be neutral.

In the Bible, all violence is considered an offence against God and against humanity.
Scripture is full of condemnations of violence – time and again violence is associated with
wickedness and condemned as “detestable to the Lord” (Psalm 11, Proverbs 3 & 10).

Violence against women is condemned. In Jewish law, rape was viewed as equivalent to
murder (Deuteronomy 22:26), as was pressuring a woman physically (Deuteronomy 22:25–27)
or psychologically (Deuteronomy 22:28–29) into sex. The
Bible recounts many stories of the horrific sexual abuse of women. In Old Testament
narratives, rape is viewed as an “outrage” (nebalah) - a term which only occurs 13 times in
the Old Testament and is reserved for extreme acts of violation against God and human
beings, including the rapes of Dinah, Tamar, and the woman of Bethlehem.
We never see the word ‘abuse’, but the term ‘oppression’ (meaning crushing or
burdening someone by the abuse of power or authority) is everywhere. 1 The Psalms portray
oppression in a manner that echoes the way abuse survivors describe their abuser:
"His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are
mischief and iniquity." Psalm 10
God is on the side of the oppressed and abused (Psalm 56). The scriptures clearly express
God’s desire for a dramatic transformation of society for those who are burdened, marginalized,
or unjustly treated (Luke 4:18-21; Proverbs 14:31; Matthew 9:13; Mark 3:4-5).
Jesus refuses to play by the rules of violence and power (Isaiah 42:3, Matthew
26:52, Mark 10:41-45). This new revolution - modelled by Jesus himself - means that the
powerful should give up their privilege to the vulnerable, the abuser should stop using
violence against those powerless to resist, and the institution should stop ignoring the trauma
of the abuse survivor.

The way of Jesus calls us to relationships of non-violence and peace. We are to resist
using violence even in retaliation for violence used against us (Luke 6:29). This does not mean
a capitulation to the inevitability of violence, but the promise of a day when those who continue
to pursue violence will be dealt with (Romans 12:17-19; Revelation 22:12-15).

The church could be a huge well of welcome and help, but we are trapped in our
traditional modes of behavior and a theology to justify it. That’s not the Christianity we
believe in. We should think the issue should be given a higher
profile, in the context of affirming dignity, not being pitied and patronized, but valued and
cared about and respected as women. In that, we could be a real sanctuary of courage and love.

Doing theology is a continuing critical conversation involving story and text, situation,
and tradition, out of which we seek to discern God’s living, liberating Word, embodied, and
enacted by the Christian community. We seek to model good practice in the structure of the
report, which follows the pastoral cycle of experience, analysis, theological reflection and
planning for action.

The wellspring of living theology is the affirmation that each person is creates as
equal and precious in the image of our loving God. It is about ways of speaking about and
knowing God which empower and nourish fullness of life for all human beings. Any violation of
a woman’s integrity, of her body, her dignity, her autonomy, is violation of God. We are called
to follow the golden thread of equality and full humanity through the scriptures and history of
our tradition.

In the Gospel we can read stories of women who suffer under illness, social exclusion,
shaming and stigma. They meet or seek out Jesus. Through those encounters they discover
transforming power at work in their lives. They glimpse justice as right relationship. Authorized
theology has traditionally originated from places of power, from universities and pulpits and
General Assemblies. Faithful and well-intentioned pronouncements they may be, but they tend
to reflect the standpoint and interests of the majority of those holding office, and this in turn is
assumed to be the ‘norm’ which is should not be.

Silencing is one of the most compelling strategies at the disposal of those who abuse
women. Silencing is also evident in church life and pastoral care. Women’s daily problems
are rarely given voice in church, and so they find it
difficult to articulate these issues, especially to authority figures in a male- centered
religious institution.

Living a theology which counters violence against women will have the scope and
capacity to respond in love to a range of needs and circumstances, and to exercise prophetic
leadership for the building of a just community in church and world.

For those who have experienced abuse, it can be particularly important to be given
permission to develop and express a language of resistance. Especially if religious words and
symbols have been implicated as tools for grooming and silence. Survivors need to be
affirmed as people with the right and ability to question, to feel, to define themselves and to
reinterpret their narratives, when all those things have been taken from them. The gift to imagine
and begin to hope for different ways of being, is profoundly spiritual, and must be nurtured with
care. If our churches do not serve as trustworthy and enabling communities for this difficult
process, where else will survivors go?

The impacts of living with violence and its aftermath are visceral. When survivors
contend, as so many do, with enduring physical pain, disturbance, deep anxiety and stress, the
road to healing and wellbeing is rarely simple or straightforward, far less fully accomplished.
This deeply endured reality presents challenges to traditional Christian Doctrines of sin and
salvation.

The ‘silent cry’ of survivors, may it be heard not in words, but it expressed in the body
and ways of acting. The Church is not only to become attuned to hear the divine cry of
anguished survivors, but to lend all the resources of its own imagination to the task of giving
it voice. This task is both mystical and prophetic. It works to create a theological and relational
environment which has the capacity to empower remembering and re-connection. And it seeks to
embody a community of hope, one which imagines power differently, confesses its own
vulnerability, lives a spirituality of resistance, and is claimed by God’s yearning for
just relationship.

Our starting point is that God’s desire is for all people to enjoy fullness of life, and that
violence against women is contrary to the will of God. The discussions represented in this
report are informed by the wisdom and experience of many people, past and present, in
particular by the insights of women affected by violence, and by studies which have emerged
from the engaged concern for gender justice. They raise important questions and reflect a
developing and global theological enterprise which requires to be taken seriously and with
a measure of urgency. We do not claim to have definitive or comprehensive ‘answers’.
Rather, this is stimulation and encouragement to continue the great tradition of contextual
theological engagement.

Another area of theological thinking that has been contentious and damaging in the
past has been that which questioned women’s equality as bearers of the image of God.
Drawn originally from the first creation in Genesis (Gen 1:27) is the understanding that
human beings are created equally in the image of God. However, women have been viewed
by much of the Christian tradition as lesser bearers of the image of God. This has been
seen in the denigration subordination of women and past exclusion of women from positions of
authority both within and out of the church. Overcoming this completely will require the
'generation of counter images that confirm and celebrate the goodness of woman as finite
creation. Such work has been done by feminists and womanists for some time now in the form of
creative imaging of the goodness of female bodies, the honoring of female agents and the
refusal of stereotypical attributions of maleness and femaleness.

There is more to be done in our churches to make it crystal clear that women are
equally made in the image of God, through care taken in the language used for worship,
through sensitive preaching, and use of the Bible, all
these must affirm rather than denigrate and de-value women, body, mind and spirit.

In the struggle for women’s rights and opportunities, the Jewish and Christian
scriptures, for all their rich beauty and wisdom, are at the least an ambivalent resource.
The narratives are mostly driven by men’s concerns and agency and incorporate some overt
and extremely violent accounts of the mistreatment, degradation and destruction of women,
who are used, abused, discarded, silenced and forgotten. In this socio-cultural context, the
monotheistic deity is often represented as a warrior king and a jealous divine male, and the
church or people of God as faithless harlots or submissive wives. The bodies, lives, desires, and
sexuality of women are seen almost entirely through male lenses. To be sure, the scriptures are
full of beautiful poetry and surprising reversals of power; ethical challenges and bold prophetic
visions; accounts of great faith and living truth, but these are inescapably embedded in historical
narratives of patriarchal gender relations. In this the scriptures are of their time. Thus, the Bible
can be used, and has frequently been used, as a tool against values and visions which we claim
to derive from the Gospel. For slaves, for colonized peoples, for abused women, it has been
used as a hammer of oppression, rather than the sacred source of good news.

Our scriptures have been produced, translated and re-translated from one language to
another and then on to another and another within the gender- specific framework which has
been defined in favor of male influence and power. The texts themselves are not neutral and
the cultural norms which spanned hundreds of years across various territorial boundaries
have directly influenced both what is written and how they have been read. To do justice to the
Bible the depth and breadth of how these scriptures have been put together need to be
understood and acknowledged. The Bible apparently contradicts itself; has sections which are
missing and subsequently made up; and includes stories which
tell us of atrocities committed in the name of God. The wisdom required to connect this
fascinating collection of scriptures to modern day living cannot be confined by literal
interpretation.

There is an issue of equality and justice here which is recognized beyond the
parameters of what defines the Christian community. It is not necessary to read the Bible to
conclude that violence against women is wrong. But when people are encouraged and
enabled to read the Bible in dialogue with their own context, their own experiences, and with
an open and questioning spirit, God’s liberating word still speaks with power and vitality.

D. Recommendations/proposal
As a group, after studying this issue on Violence against women, we come up
many proposals to end the violence against women. With this proposal, we are hoping
that this will not just start and end with the paper but also, we will become an advocate
to the victims of violence against women. As a future pastors, we are called to follow
Christ and be the shepherd to His flock and one of the things we need to do is we will
work for justice for those who are oppress and liberated.

With that, we have some things we conceptualized that can be a great help to
lessen the number of abused women in the society.

In the Local Church/Local Community:

 Conduct a seminar to the people in the local communities and to the local church about
the very rampant issue on the violence against women and educate them the Women’s
rights in the society and as a person.

Objectives:
 ✓ To reduce the cases of Violence in the local communities
✓ To help women stands/fight for their right.
✓ To support the victim to file a case against the perpetrator.
✓ To conduct psychosocial intervention.
✓ Advice the victims to seek psychological counseling.

National Level:

 Proposed a program to the National Office that they will hold a seminar training to
every conferences or jurisdiction regarding to the issue on Violence against women and
how to handle psychosocial intervention so that the representative of the activity will be
the one to train the pastors in the conference level.

Objectives:

✓ The pastor will be trained to handle psychological intervention.

✓ Through the activity of the National office, the pastors will able to learn on How to
handle this kind of issue if there is a member or a part in the community
experienced this kind of violence.

To the Government

The purpose of this campaign is:

 Promoting recognition of the types of abuse faced by women and girls;

 Provide evidence on regulations protecting women and girls;
 Function facilities relating to VAW that can be accessed and used by individuals;
and
 Gather support from the public for the initiative

Girl/Woman
1. Empowering themselves. Know the rights and the forms of action available in the event that
these rights are abused.

2. Talk out and report in case your rights are abused to the authorities.

3. Encourage people to campaign for the freedom they have.

Agencies of Government

1. To boost service delivery for your customers, empower themselves with appropriate
preparation and capability growth sessions.

2. Establish a tracking and appraisal plan to determine the service to the supporters of
the clients.

3. Let people know that the resources are given by you! We need to remind the people that there
are government departments they should refer to and trust to help them recover and pursue
justice.

BARANGAY

1. Ensure the functionality of the Barangay VAW Desk. For advice on what to do, to use the
Barangay VAW Desk Handbook produced by DSWD and DILG with partner agencies.

2. Create relations with local and national government agencies and

other organizations near the barangay where can refer VAW victim-survivors for the required
assistance that the barangay is unable to provide.

3. Promote harmonious family and group partnerships founded on shared respect for
human rights and take concrete action to achieve a VAW-free community in your
barangay.

Private Sector

1. Join the government's Anti-VAW attempts and the local society.

2. Establish the own Action Desks where if VAW occurs, workers and consumers will go to
them.

3. To proactively ensure that the office is VAW-free, create internal laws.

Institutions of Academe/Training

1. Use VAW and women's civil rights ideas in the teaching staff's lesson
plans/lesson guides.

2. Continuously conduct/spearhead anti-VAW advocacy on the campus, and by extension

services, if possible, to the immediate neighborhood.

3. Establishing a Decorum and Inquiry Committee (DIC) where students and staff can
request assistance.

As being called to serve God and it’s people, we will take the challenge in looking for
justice for those who are liberated and oppressed. And through this advocacy, we are looking
forward to this advocacy that it will be implemented. And our voice for the voiceless will be
heard.
Attachments:

PNP Letter &

Face-to-Face Interview
 MSWD Letter &
Written Interview
GWAVE Letter &
Online Interview
Psychologist Letter &
Video Conference
Bibliography:

 Holy Bible (NIV)

Interviews:

PnP: PCP1 Investigator Jennevib Lanit, OF PNP Sergio Osmeña ZN.,

MSWD: Ms.Ireen Vailoces, Social Welfare Officer-1

NGO: Ms. Sheema B. Bajana, Executive Director, GWAVE

Psychologist: Mr. Kloyd Angelou Torado, PCC Counselor

Online Resources:

 Articles:
o Ending Violence Against Women and Children in the Philippines
o Protecting Women and Children: A Handbook on Community Based
Response to Violence
 Websites:
o https://pcw.gov.ph/republic-act-9262-anti-violence-against-women-and- their-children-
act-of-2004
o https://reliefweb.int/report/philippines/violence-against-women-and-girls- pandemic-we-
must-end-now
o https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against- women
o https://philippines.un.org/en/105122-violence-against-women-and-girls- pandemic-
we-must-end-now