Facilitator’s Role in

Communicating the Gender

Dimensions of DORRP
Carolyn I. Sobritchea, PhD
Faculty, UP Diliman
Chairperson, CHED Technical Panel on Women’s and Gender Studies
Enabling Laws to Promote Gender Equality
• (RA 7877) – “Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995”
• (RA 7845) – “General Appropriations Act of 1995” (provides for the gender
budget)
• (RA 8972) – Solo Parents’ Welfare Act of 2000 (provide for social development
and welfare services for solo parents and their children)
• (RA 9280) – “Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003”
• (RA 9262) – The Anti-Violence against women and their Children Act of 2004”
• Administrative issuances on flexible working hours, maternity and paternity leave
benefits; social protection measures for employees, especially women, with
work-related safety and security concerns; use of non-sexist language;
RA 7262 – Magna Carta of Women Law
As the primary duty-bearer, the Government is tasked to:
• refrain from discriminating against women and violating their rights;
• protect women against discrimination and from violation of their rights by private corporations, entities, and individuals;
• promote and fulfill the rights of women in all spheres, including their rights to substantive equality and non-discrimination.

The Magna Carta of Women also mandates

government offices including government-owned and controlled corporations and local government units to adopt gender
mainstreaming as a strategy for implementing the law and attaining its objectives. It also mandates (a) planning, budgeting,
monitoring and evaluation for gender and development, (b) the creation and/or strengthening of gender and development focal
points, and (c) the generation and maintenance of gender statistics and sex-disaggregated databases to aid in planning,
programming and policy formulation
Other Enabling laws
RA 10175 –Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012
RA 9995 –Anti Photo and Voyeurism Act of 2009
RA 9775 –Anti Child Pornography Act of 2009
RA 8792 – E-Commerce Act of 2000
RA 8484 - Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998
RA 4200 –Anti Wiretapping Law
Department of Education Gender Responsive
Basic Education Policy (Order 32, 2017)
Scope
This policy shall apply to all:
(a) Officials and employees of DepEd
(b) Officials and employees of private elementary, junior and senior
high schools; and
(c) Learners of public and private elementary, junior and senior high
schools, and of learning centers for Special Education and
Alternative Learning System (ALS) and laboratory schools of State
Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and Local Universities and Colleges
(LUCs).
DepEd GADF Policy Guidelines
• Integrate the principles of gender equality, gender equity, gender
sensitivity, non-discrimination, and human rights in the provision and
governance of basic education;
• Promote inclusive education that ensures girls’ and boy’s and
women’s and men’s equal access to learning opportunities, fair
treatment in the learning process, and equitable outcomes as well as
access to opportunities in all spheres of life;
• Promote the protection of children against all forms of gender-based
violence, abuse, discrimination and bullying in schools;
DepED Gad Policy Guidelines
• Address gender-based barriers and the different forms of discrimination by
vulnerable and marginalized students and school personnel (i.e. maternity
leave, work arrangement to respond to needs of those with disability, etc.)
• Involve all school stakeholders in the promotion of gender equality through
active engagement in school processes and activities;
• Strengthen structures and systems and methodologies that promote
coordination to address gender dimensions in planning, information
exchange, design and delivery of services;
• Ensure public and private partnership…
• Enhance policy implementation and sustainability of results through
periodic reviews, consultations with stakeholders, documentation and
promotion of good practices.
Population Scenario
• The Philippines is among the most populous countries in the world,
ranking 12th globally, 7th in Asia, and 2nd in the Southeast Asia.
• Its population continues to increase with an annual growth rate of
1.90 percent.
• 50.4 percent were males and 49.6 percent were females.
• The sex ratio of 102 males per 100 females, slightly higher than the
sex ratio of 101 males per 100 females in 2000.
• Population was projected to have reached 103 million in 2015
Labor Participation Data
• The number of unemployed Filipinos in October 2010 was estimated
at 2.8 million respectively.
• Female unemployment rate for the same period was relatively lower
at 6.7% which is equivalent to 1.03 million compared to male at 7.4%
which is estimated at 1.8 million.

(Source: PCW website)

Labor Force Participation Data
Of the total 14.2 million employed women in October 2010, around
• 7.5 million (53.0%) were wage and salary workers;
• 3.9 million (27.7%) were self employed without any paid employee; and around
• 327 thousand (2.3%) were employer in own family-operated farm or business.

As to the 22.3 million employed men,

• 12.3 million (55.0%) were wage and salary workers;

• 7.1 million (31.8%) were self employed without any paid employee; and
• 1.1 million (4.8%) were employer in own family-operated farm or business.
HIV/AIDS Infection Rates
• In 2012, 1,615 females (13.8%) infected with HIV virus with 57.8
percent belonging to 25-39 age group;
• Of the total 11,702 HIV Ab Sero-positive cases since 1984, 2,130
(18.2%) were OFWs, of which 21.5 percent (459 cases) are women.
• Sexual contact was still the leading mode of transmission accounting
for 92.3 percent of the total cases and 97.1 percent of the OFW cases.
• Heterosexual contact accounted for 28.7 percent; homosexual
contact, 39.1 percent; and bisexual contact, 24.6 percent.
• Internet dating is on the rise and is linked to new reported cases
Politics and Governance
• 14 (23.0%) out of 61 candidates in the senatorial race(23.0%) were
females; 2 of them got elected. ( 16%)
• 65 women (22.5 %) were elected in the 15th Congress (2010
national election).
• Increasing number of females in the judiciary, from 32% in 2007 and
35 % in 2010
• Women constitute 58.7% of the total 1.31 million government
personnel.
Sexism and gender-insensitivity of electoral
politics
• Lack of ethical and gender-sensitive guidelines on electoral politics (i.e.
unwanted public kissing and embracing of females and shown on videos
and campaign spiels) ;
• Flagrant use of sexist language in campaigns and election materials (i.e.
“masahol pa sa hayop ang mga LGBTs” };
• Political candidates flagrantly violating the laws on women (i.e. anti-sexual
harassment act, anti-VAWC, etc.)
• Poor electoral education which predisposes many electorates, both women
and men to go for politicians who are gender-insensitive and uncaring of
the human rights of women and children;
• “No women’s vote.” Women who will vote for candidates who will protect
and promote their welfare and interests
Gender-based Violence
• One in five women aged 15-49 has experienced physical violence
since age 15;
• 14.4 percent of married women have experienced physical abuse
from their husbands;
• and more than one-third (37%) of separated or widowed women
have experienced physical violence, implying that domestic violence
could be the reason for separation or annulment;
• Spousal violence tends to decline as husband's age increases,
education increases, and wealth quintile increases.
Health Issues
• In 2011, 221 mothers out of 100,000 live births die during pregnancy
and childbirth or shortly after childbirth;
• The ratio of maternal deaths to live births increased in 2011 from an
estimated 162 deaths in 2006; 172 deaths in 1998, and 209 in 1993.
• 49 in every 100 women or 48.9 percent of child-bearing age were
using a family planning method.
Cybersex Trafficking: Andrea’s Story

Andrea was 14 years old the first time a voice over the Internet told her to take off her clothes. "I was so embarrassed because I don't want
others to see my private parts," she said. "The customer told me to remove my blouse and to show him my breasts."
She was in a home in Negros Oriental, a province known for its scenic beaches, tourism and diving. But she would know none of that beauty.
Nor would she know the life she'd been promised.
Andrea, which is not her real name, said she had been lured away from her rural, mountain village in the Philippines by a cousin who said he
would give her a well-paid job as a babysitter in the city. She thought she was leaving her impoverished life for an opportunity to earn
money to finish high school. Instead, she became another victim caught up in the newest but no less sinister world of sexual exploitation --
cyber-sex trafficking.
Source: CNN .http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/17/world/asia/philippines-cybersex-trafficking/ce:
Cybersex Trafficking: Andrea’s Story

After arriving at the two-story house in Negros Oriental -- located in the central
Visayas region of the Philippines -- Andrea found that her new home would
become both workplace and prison. She was shocked by what she saw.
"The windows were covered so it was dark. There was a computer and a camera
where naked girls would say words to seduce their mainly foreign customers."
She said customers would ask the girls to perform sexually with each other.
For the next few months, Andrea said she was one of seven girls, between age 13
and 18, who spent day and night satisfying the sexual fantasies of men around the
world. Paying $56 per minute, male customers typed their instructions onto a
computer and then watched via a live camera as the girls performed sexual acts.
She said the girls were often forced to watch the men they served on screens.
How to move forward….

• Rigorous implementation of all laws and administrative guidelines to

enhance academic performance of students;
• Effective monitoring mechanisms to prevent and respond to the
causes of poor school performance , especially the gender-related
problems like bullying, sexual harassment, rape, early pregnancy,
physical and emotional abuse, and others.
Salamat !
Carolyn I. Sobritchea, PhD