DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY-DASMARINAS

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

ARCHITECTURE DEPARTMENT
G-SOSC004
Ethics

Man vs Bear: Concerning women's

safety from sexual violence as living in
the man's world
Louise Gabrielle U. De Guzman

Name

ARC22

Course & Section

De La Salle University – Dasmariñas

University

Jumel G. Estrañero (Sir. Stranger)

Professor

Ethics

Subject

I. Prelude
1
 DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY-DASMARINAS
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

ARCHITECTURE DEPARTMENT
G-SOSC004
Ethics

If you have been on the social media internet, you presumably stumble into this
hypothetical situation where picture yourself in a fictional scenario where you are certainly alone
and vulnerable in the woods. Would you choose to encounter a man or a bear? Many women
would prefer to face a wild bear rather than a male human due to safety concerns and stand to
beg to avoid sexual violence, assault, harassment, abuse, rape, and murder. This sparks a massive
debate between men and women. Men believed it was gullible enough to honestly choose a
murderous animal predator that potentially mauls you. While in the other hand, women state
their rights and defend their viewpoints as the point of their responses is living with a male
stranger is more unsafe to live with.

Likewise, this furthermore raises more concern for the women's safety who always feel
unprotected and unsafe from harassment. Estimates published by WHO (March 25, 2024)
indicate that globally about 1 in 3 (30%) of women worldwide have been subjected to either
physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime.
Sadly, even young girls, also have experienced sexual violence. According to A Familiar Face:
Violence in the Lives of Children and Adolescents, UNICEF, (2017) Approximately 15 million
girls (aged 15 to 19) worldwide have undergone forced sex at the adolescent age. In this world,
women have been constantly attacked every day by predators and they feel frightened most of
the time even simply walking down the road. They stated they feel unsafe in spaces that lack
adequate visibility, Environments that are limited accessible, such as enclosed public spaces with
few exits, journeys home with few available routes, streets that are empty and dark, or they are
alone (essexdesignguide.co.uk, June 29, 2023).

In terms of ethically speaking, intentionally threatening, or harassing a victimized person

is unethical and leads to lethal consequences. Correspondingly, this raised another inquiry in the
theoretical question, "Why are predators, specifically males, willing to harm female victims
despite unethical choices?"

II. Body

Sexual Violence

Sexual violence is directed to any sexual act, attempt to acquire a sexual act, or other act
directed against a person’s sexuality using force, by any person regardless of their relationship,
relation, age, or occupation to the victim (World Health Organization, 2022). Sexual violence is
proceeding doing sexual actions without one's consent or forced to consent. It commonly
happens here in the Philippines as according to the statistics, conducted by the Philippine
Statistics Authority, 17.5% of Filipino women aged 15-49 have experienced any form of
physical, sexual, and emotional violence from their intimate partners. (National Demographic

2
 DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY-DASMARINAS
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

ARCHITECTURE DEPARTMENT
G-SOSC004
Ethics

and Health Survey, 2022). Sexual violence has a significant negative effect on victim's physical,
psychological, mental, and sexual health.

Physical & Sexual Health

According to crcc.org.au (N.D.), impacts may include migraines, frequent headaches,

back pain, pelvic pain, gastrointestinal issues, and gynecological and pregnancy complications if
inserted. Generally, sexual predators would harm the victims in different ways based on their
sexual fantasies, which would have a greater effect on the victims. It is possible to get infected
with a sexually transmitted infection (STI) as it is capable to contact through vaginal, anal, or
oral contact.

Psychological & Mental Health

All accordance to Rainn (2022):

Depression - After a traumatic occurrence, victims would likely sense despair and
helplessness.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - It is typical to have feelings of anxiety, stress,

or fear, making it difficult to adjust or cope for some time afterward. This causes future
problems as accidental triggers would remember the traumatic event.

Self-Harm - Deliberate self-harm, or self-injury, is when a person inflicts physical harm

on himself or herself, usually in secret.

Eating Disorders - Sexual violence can affect survivors in many ways, including
perceptions of the body and feelings of control.

Suicide - Suicide is preventable and suicidal thoughts are not permanent. If you are
thinking about suicide, there are resources to give you the support you need to get
through this tough time.

Types of Sexual Violence

There are different factors of sexual violence although all of them are likely similar. It is
reminded that there are more types than it was included in the list. However, reminded that if it is
non-consensual, then it is sexual violence. No between, or considerations.

3
 DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY-DASMARINAS
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

ARCHITECTURE DEPARTMENT
G-SOSC004
Ethics

Sexual Harassment - an act in which one intentionally makes sexual physical contact
without a person's consent. This also implies catcalling, providing uncomfortable names
as a "compliment" to them.

Sexual Assault - an act in which intentionally assaulting a person without their consent.
This is similar to sexual harassment but more violently and possibly threatening them
with a potential weapon.

Sex Trafficking - Sex trafficking is the crime of using force, fraud, or coercion to induce
another individual to sell sex (Polaris, Oct 13, 2015). This indicates the victims of sex
trafficking are forced to sell their bodies.

Rape - It is defined in most jurisdictions as sexual intercourse or other form of sexual

penetration by an offender against a victim without their consent. It is the most serious
case of sexual violence as this could potentially be lethal to the victim's life and body.

Statistics in Female Victims

The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) also highlighted that sexual violence
against women and children is widespread in the country, revealing that one in every 20 girls and
women aged 15 to 49 years old has experienced such violence at some point in their lifetime
(Gutierrez, March 19, 2024).

Sexual violence occurs in common places and events. It is unpredictable how an innocent
event could be a location for sexual violence takes place. Among those who experienced sexual
violence, 14.1 percent encountered it while dating. The study also found that 13.7 percent of
incidents occurred at home, 7.8 percent in the community, 7.1 percent in the workplace, and 5.3
percent in schools (Gutierrez, March 19, 2024).

In addition, even women's loved one is also a development of male perpetrators. 17.5%
of women aged 15 to 49 said they have experienced either physical, sexual, or emotional
violence from their current or most recent husband or intimate partner. (Michelle Abad, March
10, 2023).

It is a piece of factual information that not dating or in a relationship is the problem. For
the never-married women who experienced sexual violence, 20% said the perpetrators were
friends or acquaintances, while 18% said it came from relatives (Michelle Abad, March 10,
2023).

4
 DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY-DASMARINAS
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

ARCHITECTURE DEPARTMENT
G-SOSC004
Ethics

Likewise, a woman or young girl who is neither alone, single, in a relationship, married
or separated, at school or work, or essentially living as a human being, would likely be targeted
in sexual violence by male perpetrators.

Male Perpetrators

A perpetrator is defined as a person who has committed a crime or violent action. This
contains general violence in different ways which includes sexual violence. An estimated 91% of
victims of rape & sexual assault are female and 9% are male. However, nearly 99% of
perpetrators are male (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Violence Against Women Report, 2002).
Meanwhile, only 2% of rapists are convicted and imprisoned (U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee:
Conviction & Imprisonment Statistics, 1993). For more local documentation, Out of the
documented cases, 82.1% of the perpetrators are male and 17.9% are female (Foundation of
Media Alternatives, February 12, 2024). Male Perpetrators who committed sexual violence
towards victims shall face consequences though there are laws in place to combat OGBV such as
RA No. 11313 or the Safe Spaces Act; RA No. 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act; and RA
No. 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act. This shall result in
pleading guilty to crime charges and shall result in imprisonment.

III. Analysis

As people acknowledge, sexual violence is structural in the sense of containing a type of

moral wrong called “structural wrong” (Lin, Ting-an, March 1, 2024). Sexual violence, even to
educated people or not, should commonly know it is unethical and injustice to commit such a
crime.

To expand more in an ethical statement, consent is also a moral test. Forcing or

manipulating someone to say "yes" to consent, or continue to commit it even if someone said
"no" once or multiple times is already breaking an ethical regulation. The concept of consent
arises from the ethical principle of basic human rights while they have all the freedom to decide
what should their answer be (Satyanarayana Rao, January 1, 2018).

Furthermore, going back to the theoretical "man or bear?" question. Women decide
which decision even not knowing what happened to them in two choices, experiencing a
dilemma but acknowledging the consequences between two decisions. According to one blog
post from Stephanie Mcneal (April 29, 2024) "What women are saying is not that they think they
could outrun the bear, or the bear isn’t scary, or that they wouldn’t get killed by the bear. They
are saying that the potential outcome of the bear attack is still far less frightening than what a
man could do to them."

5
 DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY-DASMARINAS
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

ARCHITECTURE DEPARTMENT
G-SOSC004
Ethics

IV. Recommendation

Ceasing the cycle

The research suggests that men can help prevent the cycle of sexual violence against
women, benefiting everyone involved. Women cannot guarantee their safety from any place or
anyone, as perpetrators can attack and harm them at unpredictable moments. With high statistics
showing that perpetrators are often men, it is important for men to take responsibility for
reducing the number of sexual violence incidents in the world.

Understanding Women's struggles

Men and women face different struggles, but when it comes to sexual violence, women
tend to experience and struggle more. They are highly regularly subjected to sexual harassment,
abuse, assault, rape, and more. Men should seek to understand the reasons behind this and
acknowledge the desperate need for women to be heard and understood in their experiences of
compression and mistreatment.

Stop gender wars and promote gender equality

It's time to end the long-standing gender wars and promote peace and gender equality. It
is a better movement to promote understanding between genders and ways to spread gender
peace. This additionally needs to build a future that includes gender equality and protection in
which every individual, regardless of gender, would live freely and not be concerned about their
safety.

V. Requiem (Conclusion)

To conclude of what had been stated, women experience sexual violence more from all
different factors globally about 1 in 3 (30%) of women worldwide have been subjected to either
physical and/or sexual violence (WHO, March 25, 2024), and the perpetrators of sexual violence
are predominantly male perpetrators as according to the statistic of U.S. Dept. of Justice,
Violence Against Women Report (2002), where nearly 99% of perpetrators are male. Women
experience sexual violence such practically any place from any person which is a valid reason
why they feel unsafe towards men. Correspondingly, it also indicates the reason for choosing a
wild bear over a man who is identified as a stranger to wild bears. Essentially, a theoretical

6
 DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY-DASMARINAS
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

ARCHITECTURE DEPARTMENT
G-SOSC004
Ethics

answer is that women would prefer anything to prevent them from getting sexual violence from
male perpetrators, even if something could kill them.

VI. Message to your Professor:

To Sir Stranger

As this second semester ends, I am about to become a 3rd-year architecture student. Time
has passed and I still remember how you were able to entertain us in the first class all the way to
our final class. I would like to give my thanks to you on how you are able to give us a lecture
from the syllabus and a life lesson for our ethical life. You widen our minds about ethical
decisions, moral dilemmas, different kinds of morality and ethical law, and more. If I had to be
honest, out of all the professors I encountered, you are the coolest, most amazing, and most
philosophical professor I have encountered. I am truly thankful for entering your class :).

Sincerely

Gabrielle De Guzman

7
 DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY-DASMARINAS
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

ARCHITECTURE DEPARTMENT
G-SOSC004
Ethics

VII. Reference

A FAMILIAR FACE Violence in the Lives of Children and Adolescents Key Findings.

Abad, Michelle. “IN NUMBERS: State of Filipino Women in 2022.” RAPPLER, 10 Mar. 2023,
www.rappler.com/nation/numbers-state-filipino-women-2022/.

Alternatives (FMA), Foundation for Media. “Foundation for Media Alternatives - Online
Gender-Based Violence in the Philippines: 2023 Yearend Report.” Foundation for Media
Alternatives, 12 Feb. 2024, fma.ph/online-gender-based-violence-in-the-philippines-
2023-yearend-report/.

Gutierrez, Gelaine Louise. “Reporting Violence against Women and Children (VAWC).” PIA,
19 Mar. 2024, pia.gov.ph/features/2024/03/19/reporting-violence-against-women-and-
children-vawc.

Lin, Ting-an. “Sexual Violence and Two Types of Moral Wrongs.” Hypatia, 1 Mar. 2024, pp. 1–
20, www.cambridge.org/core/journals/hypatia/article/sexual-violence-and-two-types-of-
moral-wrongs/9A04F6E4693375DD6F745384918E0DF2,
https://doi.org/10.1017/hyp.2023.105. Accessed 4 Mar. 2024.

MCNEAL, STEPHANIE. “What Does “Choosing the Bear” Mean? All about This Simple yet
Profound Trend.” Glamour, 29 Apr. 2024, www.glamour.com/story/what-does-choosing-
the-bear-mean-all-about-this-simple-yet-profound-trend.

“Physical and Behavioral Impacts and Effects – CANBERRA RAPE CRISIS CENTRE.”
Crcc.org.au, crcc.org.au/physical-and-behavioral-impacts-and-effects/.

Polaris. “Recognizing Human Trafficking.” Polaris, Polaris, 13 Oct. 2015,

polarisproject.org/sex-trafficking/.

Rainn. “Effects of Sexual Violence.” Rainn.org, 2022, www.rainn.org/effects-sexual-violence.

Satyanarayana Rao, KH. “Informed Consent: An Ethical Obligation or Legal Compulsion?”

Journal of Cutaneous and Aesthetic Surgery, vol. 1, no. 1, 1 Jan. 2018, p. 33,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2840885/, https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-
2077.41159.

U.S. Dept. Of Justice, Violence against Women Report. 2002.

8
 DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY-DASMARINAS
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

ARCHITECTURE DEPARTMENT
G-SOSC004
Ethics

U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee: Conviction & Imprisonment Statistics,. 1993.

“Understanding Why and Where Women and Girls Feel Unsafe | Essex Design Guide.”
Www.essexdesignguide.co.uk, 29 June 2023,
www.essexdesignguide.co.uk/supplementary-guidance/women-and-girls-safety-in-the-
public-realm/understanding-why-and-where-women-and-girls-feel-unsafe/.

World Health Organization. “Violence against Women.” World Health Organization, 25 Mar.
2024, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women.

---. “Violence Info – Sexual Violence – Sexual Violence.” Apps.who.int, 2022,

apps.who.int/violence-info/sexual-violence/.