Did you know that Republic Act No. 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004 does not cover physical violence alone?
According to the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), RA 9262 covers several acts of violence, among of which are sexual violence, psychological violence, and economic abuse.
Forms of violence
Physical Violence, apart from acts that include physical harm, incorporates any attempt to cause bodily harm to a woman and her child. It also covers the act of placing a woman and her child “in fear or imminent physical harm.”
Acts which are sexual in nature, on the other hand, fall into the category of sexual violence. As stressed by PCW, it includes, but is not limited to the following: rape, harassment, and acts of lasviciousness.
This form of violence likewise encompass “sexually suggestive remarks” as well as forced “prostitution of the woman and her child.”
Psychological Violence, although not usually recognized by the public, also exists. This covers acts that cause “mental or emotional suffering to the victim” such as restriction of a woman or her child’s movements, deprivation, and even "actions that cause psychological distress to the victim" such as stalking, destruction of property and personal belongings or inflicting harm to animals of the woman and her child.
Meanwhile, economic abuse involves any attempt to make a woman “financially dependent on her abuser.” As defined by PCW, actions like these include the following: “preventing the woman from engaging in any legitimate profession or occupation and controlling the woman’s money or property.”
'VAW is a public crime'
PCW, as part of its goal to eradicate any forms of VAWC, debunked misconceptions that victims are the only ones allowed to file a complaint.
“Any citizen having personal knowledge of the circumstances involving the commission of the crime may file a complaint because violence against women and their children is considered a public crime,” said PCW.
In line with the annual celebration of the 18-day Campaign to End VAW which will end on Dec. 12, PCW launched the event’s kick-off ceremony on Nov. 25, aiming to instill the rights of Filipino women and seeking to achieve a VAW-free society.