EDITORIAL — UNiTE vs violence

It’s unfortunate that the nation’s highest ranking female official threatened to unleash lethal violence against the President, his wife and his cousin who is the Speaker of the House as the world prepared to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Vice President Sara Duterte should have been leading the events in the country marking the special day yesterday, during which the United Nations kicked off the 16-day UNiTE campaign, from Nov. 25 to Dec. 10, to end violence against women.

Violence against women and girls persists in this country, despite the existence of laws including one of the world’s toughest against domestic violence – Republic Act 9262, the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004.

UN Women reports that worldwide, a woman was murdered every 10 minutes by partners and family members, with the problem exacerbated by conflicts and climate change. UN Women describes violence against women and girls as “one of the most prevalent and pervasive human rights violations in the world,” with one in three women worldwide having been subjected at least once in life to physical or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both.

Accountability requires victims seeking help, identifying their oppressors and pursuing complaints. This, however, is a problem in many societies. 

Because of poverty and undereducation, too many Filipino women are unaware of their rights under the law. And even when the awareness is there, too many women are scared of seeking help, wondering if the law will protect them from their abusers. There have been numerous reports of battered women complaining that barangay officials, who are mandated by law to provide the first line of assistance to victims of domestic violence, refuse to help the women, dismissing the complaints as private matters.

For other women, including those with sufficient education and financial means, domestic violence still carries a stigma. Fearing public humiliation, they eschew seeking help or filing a complaint against their oppressors. Some simply relocate to other cities or move to another country to escape further abuse.

These are among the hurdles that must be overcome as the international community intensifies efforts to end violence against women and girls, and to hold the perpetrators accountable. In the Philippines, women occupy high office, and it doesn’t look like the Vice President is a victim of domestic violence. But millions of other Filipino women face physical, sexual and other forms of abuse. With a woman being murdered every 10 minutes by abusive spouses, partners or male family members, the world must race to stop further violence.