BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Violence against women is one factor in the growing wave of alarm about violence
in American society. High-profile cases such as the OJ Simpson trial call attention to the
thousands of lesser-known but no less tragic situations in which women's lives are
shattered by beatings or sexual assault. The search for solutions has highlighted not
only what we know about violence against women but also what we do not know.
The United Nations defines violence against women as any act of gender-based
violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or
suffering to women. Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation, and
the immediate and long-term physical, sexual, and mental consequences for women
and girls can be devastating, including death.
Violence negatively affects women’s general well-being and prevents women from fully
participating in society. It impacts their families, their community, and the country at
large. At least 155 countries have passed laws on domestic violence, and 140 have
legislation on sexual harassment in the workplace (World Bank 2020). But challenges
remain in enforcing these laws, limiting women and girls’ access to safety and justice.
Not enough is done to prevent violence, and when it does occur, it often goes
unpunished including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty,
whether occurring in public or in private life. Intimate partner violence refers to behavior
by an intimate partner or ex-partner that causes physical, sexual or psychological harm,
including physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse and controlling
behaviors.
World report on violence and health: Population-level surveys based on reports
from survivors provide the most accurate estimates of the prevalence of intimate partner
violence and sexual violence. A 2018 analysis of prevalence data from 2000-2018
across 161 countries and areas, conducted by WHO on behalf of the UN Interagency
working group on violence against women, found that worldwide, nearly 1 in 3, or 30%,
of women have been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate
partner or non-partner sexual violence or both Global and regional estimates of violence
against women
Globally as many as 38% of all murders of women are committed by intimate
partners. Intimate partner and sexual violence are mostly perpetrated by men against
women. The governments, UN agencies, civil society organizations and other
institutions to find ways to prevent violence against women and girls, focusing on early
education, respectful relationships, and working with men and boys. Prevention is still
the most cost-effective, long-term way to stop violence. For more than 10 years, UN
Women’s global initiative, Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces, has worked on how to
prevent and respond to sexual harassment against women and girls in public spaces.
 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.

VAW is deemed to be closely linked with the unequal power relation between
women and men otherwise known as “gender based violence.” Societal norms and
traditions dictate people to think that men are the leaders, pursuers, and providers, and
take on the dominant roles in society while women are the nurturers, men’s companions
and supporters, and take on the subordinate roles in society. This perception leads men
to gain more power over women. Hence, VAW becomes a form of men’s expression of
control over women to retain power.

As defined by the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women

(1993), VAW is any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in
physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such
acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public and private
life. Gender-based violence is any violence inflicted on women because of their sex.

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.
REFERENCES

Aron,L.Y.,&Newmark,L.C.
(1999).TheSTOPviolenceagainstwomengrants:Programimplementationandinitialfunding
strategies.CriminalJusticePolicyReview,9(2),233-
259.doi:10.1177/088740349800900205
Biden,J.R.
(1994).Turningtheactintoaction:Theviolenceagainstwomenlaw.Washington,D.C.:SenateJ
udiciaryCommittee.
Boba,R.,&Lilley,D.
(2009).ViolenceAgainstWomenAct(VAWA)funding:Anationwideassessmentofeffectsonra
peandassault.ViolenceAgainstWomen,15,168-
185.doi:10.1177/1077801208329146Breiding,M.J.,
Smith,S.G.Basile,K.C.,Walters,M.L.,Chen,J.,&Merrick,M.T.(2011)
.Prevalenceandcharacteristicsofsexualviolence,stalking,andintimatepartnerviolencevicti
mization—
NationalIntimatePartnerandSexualViolenceSurvey,UnitedStates.MorbidityandMortalityW
eeklyReport,63(SS-8),1-18.
BureauofJusticeStatistics,DepartmentofJustice.(2012).Intimatepartner
violence,1993-2010(ReportNo.NCJ239203).Retrievedfrom
Ateneo de Manila University Loyola Heights Campus | Katipunan Avenue, Loyola
Heights, Quezon City 1108, Philippines