UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 75) The Philippine Government further strengthens the implementation of laws against violence against women and children through individual agency and inter-agency initiatives such as the following:
-The Department of Interior and Local Government directed the Philippine National Police to set up Women's and Children's Desks at police stations and at all levels in the country. As of February 2011, 1,829 desks, staffed by 2,977 police officers, 2,957 of which are well-trained female officers, have been made operational in these stations.
-A Joint Memorandum Circular issued on 9 December 2010, by the Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Education, Department of Health, and the Philippine Commission on Women, in line with provisions of the Magna Carta of Women provided for the creation of Violence against Women (VAW) Desks in barangays, or villages. The Circular also provides for Barangay Protection Orders for VAW victims and calls for local governments to allocate funds to sustain the VAW Desks. As of 31 October 2011, 26,981 barangays have VAW Desks.
-The Philippine Commission on Women spearheaded the inter-agency development of the Performance Standards and Assessment Tools for Services Addressing VAW, which benchmarks the quality and effectiveness of services provided to VAW victim-survivors, including trafficked victims, ensuring gender-sensitiveness and needs responsiveness. The agencies involved are the Philippine National Police for investigatory services or procedures; Department of Health for medical or hospital- based services; Department of Social Welfare and Development for psychosocial services; Department of Justice for legal/ prosecution services; Department of Interior and Local Government and local government units for anti-VAW services at the barangay, municipal, city and provincial levels.
-The Inter-Agency Committee on the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, led by the Office of the Presidential Advisor on the Peace Process, harmonizes national efforts and aligns the same to ensure responsiveness of the national programs to the needs of women in armed conflict.

Para 76) Affirmative measures:
- Amending RA 7877 to further strengthen the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995;
- Amending Revised Penal Code provisions on adultery and concubinage;
- Amending RA 8505 (Rape Victim Assistance and Protection Act of 1998) to broaden the current law's mandate of operating crisis centers in every province and city exclusively for rape victims, instead to cover other victims of unfortunate circumstances, such as prostitution and sexual exploitation, domestic violence, abuse and battery, rape, incest, sexual abuse, harassment or molestation, and others;
- Declaring November 25 of every year as National Consciousness Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women;
- Amending RA 6949, to make National Women's Day observed in March 8 of every year as a Non-Working Holiday.

Para 77) The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao passed its own Gender and Development (GAD) Code on 31 January 2011, taking into account the 2006 CEDAW recommendation for intensified dialogue with Muslim community in order to remove discriminatory provisions from the Code of Muslim Personal Laws, particularly on early marriage, forced marriage and polygamy.

Para 78) The Committee on Gender Responsiveness in the Judiciary, the over-all committee in charge of the GAD Program of the Supreme Court, spearheaded in March 2010 the National Summit on Family Courts, in partnership with the Philippine Judicial Academy and the Philippine Judges Association, with the theme "Strengthening the Multi-Sectorial Framework for the Protection of Family, Women and Children". Participants in the Summit included selected family court judges, clerks of court, interpreters, social workers, prosecutors, representatives from the Public Attorney's Office, the Senate and the House of Representatives, other government agencies, civil society and media. Three areas of concern were addressed, namely: regularization of family courts, codification of rules on women and children, and law reform.

Para 79) The Summit was the culmination of the Regional Conferences conducted in 2008 and 2009 where various sectors comprising and assisting the Philippine Judiciary were consulted to identify problems, explore possible solutions, and develop a workable consensus on how to improve people's access to justice in family courts.

UN Compilation:
Para 21) CRC welcomed the Anti-Violence against Women and their Children Act. However, it expressed concern at the increasing number of cases of domestic violence, and at the fact that they went mostly unreported. CRC also reiterated its concern at the alleged cases of sexual abuse of children in religious institutions.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 119) Joint Submission 7 (JS 7) called on Philippines to comply with its obligation to promote and protect the human rights of its IPs. JS 7 referred to accepted Recommendation 1 and stated that sexual violence and sexual exploitation of indigenous women and girls by the military persisted amidst State sanctioned counter insurgency campaigns. It recommended stronger protective complaints mechanisms, and effective and speedy investigations, prosecutions and verdicts.