My Reading Text -- Part 1 (Third Week , 4th Quarter)

Across the world, millions of women and children suffer abuse. According to the United Nations,
violence against women is a gender-based assault resulting in injury or maybe even death. The
Convention of the Rights of the Child states that violence of “all forms of physical or mental
violence, injury and abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including
sexual abuse.” Below is the list of different types of violence committed against women and
children:

Violence Committed Against Women

1. Intimate partner violence or domestic violence, sexual harassment , exploitation , trafficking,

prostitution, and female genital mutilation. Other forms of violence include:honor crimes, acid-
throwing, female infanticide, dowry-related violence

2. Women with HIV, minorities, immigrants, women with disabilities , and refugees or displaced
people are more vulnerable to violence, abuse and discrimination

Task 1. Let’s explore. Read the following cases below which are excerpts from the different online
news portal and answer the questions that follow.

Case 1

Parents jailed for life for ‘honor killing’ of daughter

LONDON—A Pakistani-born couple were jailed for life by a British court Friday for murdering their
“westernized” teenage daughter in an apparent honor killing.
Iftikhar Ahmed, 52, and his wife Farzana, 49, were told at Chester Crown Court in Cheshire, north-
west England, that they would serve a minimum of 25 years each after suffocating their 17-year-old
daughter Shafilea in 2003.
In a high-profile case, Shafilea’s sister Alesha had told the jury that her mother had said, “Just finish it
here,” as they forced a plastic bag into Shafilea’s mouth in front of their other children.Prosecutors
said the Ahmeds, who lived in the town of Warrington, near Chester, killed their daughter because
they felt her “western” habits such as wearing make-up and talking to boys brought shame on the
family.

The case above is an example of honor crime. It refers to the murder of women who have brought
dishonor to their families.The main members of the families are involved in these crimes.These are
common in Muslim countries?

For you, do you believe that family honor is far more important than the love of your child?
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Case # 2
Krishna, a young woman from Sitamarhi in Bihar, India had been married for a couple of years. In
September 2017, she was murdered and cremated by her husband’s family before her natal family
even found out about her death. The reason? Some cash and a buffalo that her marital family was
awaiting as part of the dowry that they had demanded. “That’s why all of them – all the brother,
mother and father-in-law used to torture her,” says Manoj Baitha, Krishna’s brother, who filed a First
Information Report (FIR) at the local police station after the incident.

The case above is a classic example of dowry-related crimes which stem from the abuses committed
against brides by their groom/husband and his family leading to domestic violence.These are
prevalent in India. What push the family of the groom/husband to do such horrendous crime? For
you, is there love in this kind of marriage? Or it is just tradition that dictate this the bride’s family
should honor age-old practice in India? What’s your opinion on this?

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Case # 3
Woman who threw baby into creek charged
CEBU, Philippines - A case of infanticide has been filed against the woman who threw her baby into a
creek in Barangay Opao, Mandaue City last Wednesday morning. Elements of the Opao Police Station
arrested the 28-year-old mother last Thursday night. Police Officer 3 Pearl Anne Flores, officer-in-
charge of the police station’s Women’s and Children’s Desk, said a witness identified the woman
positively.

“Mopasaka mi ug kaso nga infanticide tungod kay adunay nibarug nga saksi nga nagpama-
tuod nga naghilak pa ang bata sa dihang gilabay ug dunay makatumbok usab sa maong
ginang nga kini ang galabay,” she said.("We will file an infanticide case because there is a
standing witness who testified that the child was still crying when he was thrown and
someone also pointed out that the woman was the one who was thrown," she said.)

Under the Philippine law, infanticide is the killing of a child who is less than three days old. Does she
have the right to do that? What are her reasons for doing that? (Just speculate or guess) Are there
other ways that she could have done if indeed she does not want the baby?
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Case # 4

A Philippine National Demographic and Health survey said in 2017 that one in four Filipino women
aged 15-49 has experienced physical, emotional or sexual abuse by their partner or husband. Sadly,
authorities revealed in June that this statistic has risen since Covid-19 lockdowns began in March this
year.Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte told reporters that around 602 women, or an average of eight
per day, were maltreated or raped across the country from March 17 to May 23. She said Quezon
City’s women and children’s desk now receives at least 12 complaints of domestic abuse per week.
Before the pandemic began, the number was around five.Although the coronavirus has shut down
many help desks, victims can now reach authorities online. Officials said they expected the number of
abuse cases would be lower, but the opposite has proven the case. The Philippines’ figures are
consistent with a World Health Organization report that says violence against women has increased
during this year’s pandemic because couples are spending more time together at home.Stress has
also been a big factor during the pandemic and is often brought about by the loss of a job and health
fears.A woman, who only wished to be identified as Amanda, decided to leave her husband after he
began physically abusing her. She said her husband’s moods went from bad to worse after he lost his
job due to mass retrenchment.“Before we would only quarrel verbally. But during the lockdown,
especially in May, our quarrels became physical. One day he slapped my face, which persuaded me to
go to court to teach him a lesson,” she told UCA News.She also believed her husband had been having
an affair with a co-worker because he was spending long hours on the internet. She claimed she had
found several romantic messages on her husband’s Facebook account.

What are the leading factors or causes that led to this increase of cases of violence against
women in this time of pandemic? Can you suggest ways to help our women?
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Case # 5. Read this news from Thailand and you will be surprised by this gender-based
discrimination on children.

A young ethnic minority girl in northern Thailand died by her own father’s hand for a simple reason:
she wasn’t a boy.Anuphap Jaipanya, a 45-year-old man who belongs to the Lisu tribe in the country’s
mountainous northern region inhabited by hilltribe people, many of whom are Christians, has
confessed to poisoning his seven-year-old daughter on Sept. 23 while the child’s mother was away,
according to police.Anuphap, who has three daughters, reportedly told police he had wanted to kill
one of his daughters from the day she was born because he preferred to have a son. It was his
distraught wife who reported her husband to police.The shocking murder of the girl by her own father
simply because of her biological sex has highlighted the plight of women in many of Thailand’s
hilltribe communities, including Catholic ones, where female children have traditionally been valued
far less than male offspring, who are thought to be responsible for carrying on the family’s name and
legacy.In these communities, social workers and rights activists say, girls and women have long been
seen as inferior to men and are often treated accordingly. And some of the diehard, age-old
prejudices toward women remain prevalent in Catholic communities as well.

After having read case # 5, what violations are committed against women and children in thi s
case?

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