The Ospital ng Sampaloc in Manila (OsSam) launched its Gender and Development Program on Thursday, Nov. 25 to raise awareness on violence against women (VAW).
OsSam’s program titled “The 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women” runs from Nov. 25 to Dec. 12. It was launched following the signing of Manila’s Ordinance 8788 on Nov. 24.
During the first day of the campaign, OsSam held a webinar titled “VAW-Free Community Starts With Me!” highlighting the issue of violence against women.
Czarlette P. Julongbayan, a registered social worker of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, served as the speaker.
The campaign is in line with Ordinance 8788 creating the “Local Council on Anti-Trafficking and Violence Against Women and their Children”, which was signed by Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso. It aims to legislate policies and programs in Manila to benefit women and children, and to enforce existing laws protecting them including Republic Act (RA) 9208 “Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003”, and RA 9262 “Anti-violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004.”
The Philippine National Police Women and Children Protection Center (PNP-WCPC) recorded a total of 18,945 cases of violence against women from the start of the nationwide lockdown in March 2020 to August 2021.
“Women who are victims of violence are in lockdown with their perpetrators...the number of cases is alarming, and we should not treat this as just mere numbers. These are real statistics and situation of violence against women and children happening in our society this pandemic,” said OsSam Hospital director Dr. Aileen Lacsamana.