Violence against women in the Philippines: barriers to seeking support
The Philippines is among one of the most gender-equal countries in the Western Pacific region.
Nevertheless,it is evident that the sociocultural landscape lags behind:one in four Filipino
women has experienced gender-based violence, and 41% of victims do not seek help. Despite
existing laws and a widespread local anti-violence against women (VAW) movement, multiple
barriers to help seeking exist, and it is ultimately the economic, socio political and cultural
structures in the Philippines hindering VAW victims from seeking support. Like in other Asian
countries, Filipino women arestifled by a patriarchal society emphasizing male dominance in
family structures and larger social institutions. Traditionally, Filipino men are household
headsand breadwinners; women are deemed subservient, hence economic abuse is common in
VAW cases, and a high acceptance of justified wife beating exists. Women’s pleasures are
considered objects to pursue or control, hence they are regarded as a vulnerability. Few women
seek help because of expectations to be self-sacrificing, thus giving up safety and security in
favor of family reputation. Defying gender norms invites objectification, shame, guilt, and even
justification of violence, hence the culture of victim-blaming.
Through public debasing of women, condoning rape jokes and sexual remarks, openly harassing
female supporters, associating femininity with weakness, and encouraging the military to “shoot
women ‘communist rebels’ in the vagina,” the current administration under President Duterte
personifies sexism, shaping society’s perception of women. This misogyny is tolerated by many
citizens, including some women of power. Coined “feminists of convenience,” these individuals
advocate women’s rights yet remain silent about the President’s behavior for personal and family
gains and to avoid political backlash. In their silence, the culture of impunity prevails.
It is apparent that women’s rights is not the administration’s priority, and this manifests
systemically through complex referral pathways, fragmented documentation systems, and a slow
judicial process. With stringent policies (curfews, checkpoints, and rationed quarantine passes)
restricting mobility, this unsettling reality has intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. VAW
victims are trapped in their homes, unable to seek help and alternative shelter. Escalation of
VAW-related and help-seeking internet search activity is not coinci-dental. Moreover, health,
social, and legal services are largely in accessible, a situation exacerbated by the diversion of
national resources to the pandemic response. Reproductive health services are disrupted by 77-
85%,7 and the adolescent birth rate is 31 per 1000 women. While 10.1% of all live births occur
in the 15-19 age group, only 3.2% of these are sired by men of the same age, suggesting duress
and power imbalance. Also vulnerable are women facing multiple and intersecting forms of
discrimination, such as transgender women, indigenous women, women with disabilities,
poverty-stricken women, and internally displaced women. The additional barriers of stigma,
discrimination, State neglect, and harassment from law enforcers contribute to their distrust in
the system, making them less likely to report to the police. Poverty and job inse-curity aggravate
the situation: women resort to prostitution, and online classes compound the risk of children’s
sexual exploitation with increased internet exposure.
With the pandemic further threatening women’s safety, the priority is ensuring functional,
responsive, and accessible VAW responses that are survivor-centered and trauma-informed.
Community-based first responders should still be reachable during quarantine. Healthcare
providers must be trained for selective enquiry and firstline support of survivors. Referral
pathways should be simplified to expedite care and assis-tance: upon identification of victims, a
blanket referral to sexual and reproductive health providers, psychiatricaid, legal assistance,
protective shelters, and livelihood assistance can be made. Establishing an active, centralized
VAW surveillance system must take into consideration mobility under community restrictions.
More accessible communication channels, like social media, must be made available and
maximized. Marginalized women should be included in surveillance and protected in legislation,
and VAW survivors should be consulted to improve service delivery.
Organizing women, educating them of their rights, promoting rights to pleasure and safety, and
encouraging help-seeking behaviors while changing policies that increase vulnerability to VAW
will foster women empowerment. Ensuring full implementation of the Magna Carta of Women is
imperative in eliminating discrimination. This includes changing gender bias norms, non-
discriminatory employment, leave benefits, equal opportunity for education and training,
increased information access, and more women in leadership roles to advocate policy reform.
Women prefer getting help from their community, hence community-based reporting and
response systems should be strengthened in conjunction with bystander education to change
sociocultural norms that condone VAW. Ultimately, institutional cultures perpetuating VAW must
be tackled with interdisciplinary and intersectoral social and public health interventions, and the
community must work hand-in-hand with an accountable government to end VAW in the
Philippines.
