Violence Against Women Help Desk (LOH #99)
(Gustavo Fring)
Violence against women is one of the problems in the society today and long before we are even here. Thankfully, our country has several laws and agencies that help protect women and their children from any gender-based violence and Local Government Units (LGUs) help in their implementation.
We have a law (Republic Act 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004) which clearly defines what Violence Against Women (VAW) is:
(Source)
We also have the Republic Act No. 9710, also known as the Magna Carta of Women (MCW) that "recognizes, protects, and upholds the rights of women and addresses issues of discrimination against them." And many other laws as follows:
(Source)
Here, it is not hard to report cases of violence or any form of abuse since there are help desks in every locality called the Barangay VAW Desk where one can run to and seek assistance or help. And not only the victim can report, but everyone in the society who observes or witnesses abuse.
In our area for instance, we have a specific VAW Desk Officer in the Barangay Hall/Office where anyone can report incidents.
What are the procedures?
- Just go to the office and report any abuse and receive first-aid treatments when necessary.
- The officer will then take actions depending on the severity of the abuse, like coordinating or referring the victim to appropriate agencies when better safety and protection is required.
- Victims can even ask for safe shelter and the Department of Social Welfare and Development agency can aid in such regard.
- The help desk will brief victims of their rights, options, solutions, remedies available if any, and the processes involved in seeking justice and any other implications.
- Victims can seek Barangay Protection Order (BPO), either temporary or permanent.
There are however cases that do not fall within the authority of the Barangay Help Desk like rape, trafficking and sexual harassment. But the Barangay VAW can assist the victims (survivors) by doing preliminary interview and then help the victim in filing complaints or refer them to proper necessary agencies as follows:
For Rape and Trafficking Cases:
- PNP Women and Children’s Protection Desk (WCPD) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
For Sexual Harassment Cases:
- Committee on Decorum and Investigation (CODI)
- PNP Women’s Desk or directly to the Prosecutor’s Office if victim has already has the necessary documents to support the case.
Additionally, there are hotlines in every region where anyone can call, report and ask for help.
With these laws, agencies (both governmentand Non-Government Organizations), help desks and hotlines in place, there should be no reason for anyone to be afraid of reporting incidents and or cases of abuse. I personally know some people who sought help and were given proper assistance so I believe the system in place works although it can be improved.
This is my participation to the LOH Challenge #99 for the first question, re:
(Source)
And let me invite @windgirl if she is so inclined to take part in any of this week's questions :)
View or trade
LOHtokens.@ifarmgirl, You have received 4.0000 LOH for posting in Ladies of Hive. We believe that you should be rewarded for the time and effort spent in creating articles. The goal is to encourage token holders to accumulate and hodl LOH tokens over a long period of time.
Violence Against women is something that should not be taken lightly in the society because it hurts to see women been treated badly.
Your post gave more insight about the help desk over this to help victims
Well done champ, here is a lovely and helpful post..
That is true, it is one of the concerns that everyone must be vigilant about. Thank you Johnsen for your appreciation.
!PIZZA
I am just glad that we have something like this to protect the woman. Mejo nakakalungkot lang na even if we have the law some can just get away from the punishment. Specially yong ibang mayayaman ba, di naman lahat but there are really aome cases like that.
It is good that we have laws to protect us but you are right too on some abusive people getting away with what they do. Dahil na rin siguro sa ibang nasa gobyerno na madaling ma-sway ng pera ba.
!LADY
View or trade
LOHtokens.@ifarmgirl, you successfully shared 0.1000 LOH with @ruffatotmeee and you earned 0.1000 LOH as tips. (3/10 calls)
Use !LADY command to share LOH! More details available in this post.
Am happy that its easy to report this case in your locality, moat countries don't and in some other places the woman is seen as the one at fault each time there is domestic violence at home.
They are taught to be completely submissive and endure everything bad in marriage.
Imagine us having women die most of the time here from abuse coming from their husband.. The recent one were a popular musician died pained me the most...
I wish there is an online platform where woman can tender their cases and receive justice not from their country government who may not be willing to help but from a world class support system...
Reporting in this manner wouldn't keep violence against women in local police stations alone.
Thanks foe sharing this with us.
That's one of the things I appreciate here, having the channels to report and get help. And I am saddened too of the situations in other countries where women's rights are not being protected. Your thoughts about having an online, world-class system to report cases is a very good idea. It might be challenging but if there are organizations and non-governmental agencies or even private individuals who are willing to help, then it might really work.
Thank you Monica for your insightful inputs.
!LADY
View or trade
LOHtokens.@ifarmgirl, you successfully shared 0.1000 LOH with @monica-ene and you earned 0.1000 LOH as tips. (4/10 calls)
Use !LADY command to share LOH! More details available in this post.
https://twitter.com/farmgirlboss/status/1569156895407210497
https://twitter.com/adikwumary041/status/1569157997125074944
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the people( @ifarmgirl, @monica-ene ) sharing the post on Twitter as long as they are registered with @poshtoken. Sign up at https://hiveposh.com.
PIZZA Holders sent $PIZZA tips in this post's comments:
@ifarmgirl(3/5) tipped @ijohnsen (x1)
Join us in Discord!
Congratulations @ifarmgirl! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s):
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCheck out the last post from @hivebuzz:
Thank you as always HB team :)
You are welcome @ifarmgirl, that's with pleasure! We wish you a happy buzzy week 😊👍🐝🌹
This is what I also thought ate when I read about the new challenge. Thank you so much for sharing these but you know that some women are not capable to do these because some of them are stuck being a martyr.
Thank you sis :) And you are right about some women not even reporting to the authorities even when they are in an abusive relationship. I hope they take courage.
!LADY
Thank you lots :)
I don't think there is an hotline here in my country infact if you are been abused as a lady people will advise you to sort it out with your husband. They don't believe in women to speak they see it as disrespect it only God that will help us
I am sorry to hear but I do hope today's generation will do something to change that. Otherwise, the same belief will pass on to the next. It is appalling when people don't even listen to women's voices.
!LADY
This is really educating. I'm glad women are standing up for themselves these days and things are taking better turns. Violence, abuse against women shouldn't be taken likely and any violator should face the law and should be punished accordingly.
Thank you so much for tagging me, I'm honored to participate 🥰.
Yay! Thank you for taking on the challenge :)
And I agree with you, any violence needs to be taken seriously and must be reported so that offenders will not repeat their acts. I greatly appreciate your inputs :)
!LADY
It gives me great pleasure 😊.
Glad I could share something 🥰. Thanks for the token
It's a beautiful thing that women get help as soon as possible when their fundamental rights are being violated.
In most places it takes a lot of time and processes before they are granted help. Whilst waiting their lives might be at more risk
But it is important that we as women look out for other women in trouble and give in our best to make sure that justice is served properly for them.
!LADY
That's the good thing, having the channel to seek help when necessary. And true what you said, that we also need to be vigilant and help others in trouble. Gender-based violence can only be controlled when everyone in the society get involved and not just be a spectator while another is suffering.
Thank you lots Utybee for your amazing input :)
!LADY
You welcome
!LADY
Violence against women or any gender should never be tolerated,
The society needs to start taking quick actions about things like this ,
Because the younger generation needs to know this things are not tolerated so that with time this will all reduce and the society will be sane and better
You are right about that. It is one thing that should be taken seriously. The involvement of everyone in the society will help lessen the abuse and hopefully, eradicate gender-based incidents in the future.
!LADY
We keep learning everyday, I didn't even know any of this help desk right till I read this. All I know is the police, thanks for sharing, it's educating .
Glad you learnt something from this :) Thank you lots
!LADY
It is so nice to see how well structured it is over there. I am not sure we have such laid down structures in our state but I am so reading up on it. Never had the cause to make a complaint before but it is good I gather such information!
Thankfully, the government has done a good set up and laws to protect women and children. We only need to do our part in reporting abuses and or incidents. I first learnt about these through the stories of neighbors at our other house who had gone through the procedures.
You are right. Best to know things as such but hope we or anyone around us won't be needing it.
Amen! Hope so!
I am very grateful that we celebrated VAW-FREE in the university before and until now. Spread the laws and rights of women is something that can help to gain awareness. Hindi lang laging tahimik ang mga naaabusong kababaihan.
Oh, it's nice that they also included it in the uni. That's amazing! Information really needs to go out because just like you said, some are still staying mum even when they are being abused. Yung iba daw kasi takot.
I am glad that these laws exist in your country and that there is a help desk in each locality, the direct line thing seems good to me, besides that, as you mention, the cases of rape and trafficking need to be attended to by the prosecutor's office. It is good to know what the procedure is like there. Thanks for sharing such important information.
!LADY
Thank you Irene, I am glad too that these exist and women and children who are being abused can seek support.
Mayat ta ada kakastoy nga laws tayo ken mabalin pagreportan. Violence to anyone is a no-no.
Kaya nga, at least haanen nga narigat. Kaya lang yung iba, takot magreport at tinitiis na lang.
Wen ngay dijay ti rigat na kasatnu jay han nareport? Ad adu sa pay ti han mareport.
Wen adu pay. Jy daduma ket maboteng da kano or awan ammo da papanan da incase mkisina da asawa da.
This is beautiful. You have explained well and I enjoyed what I read. Victims needs help and support when necessary especially when such cases like this comes up.
They need to fight for them and bring all abusers to justice.
Thank you lots PrincessB. Hope those who are being abused will be brave to come forward and get support. Some are still keeping silent despite being mistreated.
It is good to know that there are laws that protect women and to be aware of them, in addition to knowing which are the organizations to turn to for help.
Yes, that's true. And it's available in every town so one don't need to travel far.
It will be a good thing if women can get help as soon as possible when their fundamental rights are being violated. Though we have woman affairs commission but at the end of the day they will tell them to settle it amicably and tell the woman to keep on enduring.
It might be that they overlook how women suffer, hence they tell them to endure which may work at times but if the partner or another person is really abusive, it can be a different thing.
Exactly, and we have been hearing a lot about domestic violent leading to death of many women
That is true. Hope such cases will be minimized or eradicated
I hope it can be eradicate