16 Days to end gender Violence.

"A 32-year old high school teacher in Bataan, Lea has three children by her husband, Gerry, a 23-year old high school drop-out, jobless and a drug user. Upon the prodding of her sister, Lea went to an NOC-run clinic for a tubal ligation. During the interview, the clinic staff found out that Lea was a battered wife. Gerry beats her up whenever he's high on drugs, which she refers to as sinumsumpong. There was even a time when he attempted to hurt their youngest claiming the child wasn't his. After the sumpong, he Would promise to be good but the same thing happens again. Lea would go home to her mother when she can no longer stand the beatings. Only to return everytime Gerry would plead to take her back, promising to love and care for her. Eventually, her mother got tired of giving her advice and refused to accept her anymore.

The beatings however, continued, until finally, Lea decided to leave her. husband for good..."

Lea is only one of hundreds of battered Filipino women who make up the statistics churned out by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) every year.

The Bureau of Women's Welfare reported that from 1991 to 1996, they handled a total of 1 9,382 cases on violence against women or. 58.62% of all cases handled. In 1998, 71% of the cases handled by DSWD were battered women.

The Police Regional Office of the Cordillera Administrative Region. (CAR) reports that 39% of crimes committed against women in the year 2000' were physical injuries, 8% were wife battering; 7% rape and 1% attempted rape. 3% of all the cases reported were on acts of lasciviousness.

Last year, 34% of the violence reported against women were physical injuries; 8% were rape, 2% attempted rape and .02% incest rape.

As of July 2002, physical injuries account for 54% of crimes committed against women, rape accounted for 11%, acts of lasciviousness 8% and attempted rape, 2%.

All over the world, violence against women (VAW), which includes, assault, battery, rape, sexual slavery, mutilation and murder, is the most' pervasive form of human rights abuse today. It spares no one,' it cuts across social and economic classes and is deeply embedded in male-dominated clutures that condone and encourage violence against women. as an 'acceptable way of life.

A World Bank analysis indicates that one-half of all the world's women have been battered by an intimate partner. In' Asia, 60% 'of all women have been assaulted Worldwide, one of out five women is a victim of rape.

Statistics in the cordilleras and the Philippines in general, echo worldwide statistics that point to a persistent occurence of violence against women. In the Philippines, two out of five women are victims of violence.

It is for this reason that human rights and women's groups all over the world have intensified 'their clamor for an end to gender violence through the "16 Days to End Gender Violence" campaign.

The campaign originated from the first Women's Global Leadershi'p Institute sponsored by the Center for Women's Global Leadership in 1991. It is celebrated every year, from November 25 to December 10. Participants chose the dates,. Nov. 25, which is recognized as International Day Against Violence Against Women and Dec. 10, recognized as International Human Rights Day, in order to "symbolically link VAW and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights."

The 16-day period highlights other significant dates as the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre (Dec. 6) when 14 female engineering students died at the hands of a feminist-hating gunman.

November 25 also commemorates the death of the three Mirabel sisters who were detained, tortured and assassinated in 1960 during the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic.

This campaign served to remind nations of their responsibility to institute policies, programs and intervention to curb the alarming increase in VAW. It was backed by International Conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Vienna Declaration and the Beijing Platform of Action.

In the Philippines, landmark bills such as the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law and the Anti-Rape Law focus on women's issues and offered measures to fight violence and discrimination against women.

Government organizations (GOs) and non-government organizations (NGOs) forged partnerships to strengthen efforts to eliminate VAW.

In the Cordilleras, the PNP has conducted gender sensitivity sesions, anti-VAW projects and as in the rest of the nation, operationalized the Women's Desk to cater to and protect victims of violence.

The OCSWADO (Office of the City Social Welfare and Development) and the DSWD-CAR offer counseling, temporary shelter, financial assistance and provision of basic needs to victims.

The Overseas Workers Welfare Office (OWWA) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) offer legal counseling and livelihood and financial assistance.

NGOs also offer their own interventions. ReachOut Foundation-Baguio used to offer medical services, counseling and information dissemination to victims of violence.

However, despite these efforts, a lot of problems still cloud the issue of VAW. As cited earlier, the common cases committed against women and children reported in the rational and regional PNP and DSWD offices are still physical injuries and rape.

PNP-CAR admitted that there is a persistence of sex-related crimes and violence against women. What seems to be the problem?

The biggest issue related to VAW today revolve around continuing gender/cultural perceptions and misconceptions rooted in unequal gender relations.

For example, Filipinos still tend to view events occurring within the family and marriage as purely private matters. The family is considered a sacred, basic social institution that must be cherished and protected at all costs. Thus, when violence within the family occurs, the community ignores or trivializes it.

In the Cordilleras, as in other regions in the country, this is an alarming reality. For example, in some parts of lfugao, Mt. Province and Benguet, frustrated counselors and social workers complain of rape and other cases of violence against women being systematically amicably settled, for fear that its exposure to public scrutiny will bring shame to the family, clan and community.

Thus, statistics put forth at the beginning of this article might just be the tip of the iceberg: there may be more women victims of violence in the Cordilleras than we care to admit.

There is also still the prevailing notion that women deserve to be beaten because they failed to perform their domestic roles or like to be beaten. VAW is rationalized as a form of discipline -- a belief that does not seem to have died out with the middle ages.

The wife's economic dependence on the husband also serves to encourage more incidents of violence. The wife cannot assert her rights for fear of being denounced, losing her children or being cut off from society.

Furthermore, women have also been conditioned to equate chastity with self-worth and are apt to remain silent on experiences that violate chastity.

Coupled with these beliefs is the notion that men are normally aggressive and unable to control their "biological urges."

Add to this, people still hold the view that a woman who has been raped asked for it -- that she invited rape by being pretty, loose, aggressive -- when in reality, no woman ever enjoys coercion, rape and violence of any kind.

This is made worse by the fact that there still no law against VAW, or other responsive laws to protect women from violence (save for the Anti-Rape Law which some women's groups still find unsatisfactory). The few survivors of violence who do decide to fight against the injustices done to them, have to navigate the murky waters of the legal system: the insensitiveness of police officers and other persons tasked to handle VAW cases, the long, tedious process of filing the case, the callousness of defense lawyers and judges during court trials and the equally long and oftentimes traumatic experience of watching the wheels of justice turn. These are realities that have pushed human rights groups to call for reforms in the justice system.

Perhaps the worse thing that anyone can do is view VAW as something that is not an issue at all. But the alarming number of VAW cases documented every year points not only to a problem that not only affects individuals, but the community and the larger society as well. If we were, for example, get the number of VAW cases reported by DSWD's Project Haven in a given year, multiplied by the average monthly expense estimated at PhP 6,083.30, then we are talking of a monthly expense of PhP 48.5 M -- an amount that will surely drain the perpetually ailing coffers of the government.

Admittedly, the 16 Days of Activism to End Gender Violence should not be construed as the answer to all the problems and issues besetting violence against women. But it does serve to remind us that VAW is an issue that should not be ignored or dismissed with impunity. Creating effective, clear-cut and consistent policies on the criminalization of VAW, complying with the GAD budget and taking a pro-active stance on domestic violence and involving local and other government units in addressing VAW will go a long way in decreasing and eventually eliminating violence against women.

/with reports from Arlene B. Olsim

References: Women in Action, No. 1, 1998

Center for Women's Global Leadership

Pilipina/Abanse!Pinay

National Comm. on the Role of Filipino women

United Nations Population Fund