Photos by Star Sabroso
One in five Filipino women aged 15 to 49 has experienced physical abuse, according the National Statistics Office’s National Demographic and Health Survey in 2008.
Within the comforts of home, 23 percent of “ever-married women” (or those who have been married at least once) have suffered emotional, physical or sexual violence from their husbands, and eight percent of these women have experienced domestic violence within the first two years of their marriage.
And yet we don’t always hear about these cases because they have become unfortunately common.
“The Philippines is a very family-centric society, but unfortunately, domestic violence also occurs here,” laments Avon Philippines head for Channels and Enablement Christine Eugenio.
The United States Department of Justice defines domestic violence as “a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner.” It can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological abuse.
According to Vital Voices Global Partnership vice president of human rights Cindy Dyer, domestic violence is the most common form of violence committed against women in every part of the world.
Vital Voices is a non-governmental organization whose human rights work is focused on combatting violence against women (VAW) in its worst forms.
The problem
It is recognized that domestic violence is a major barrier to the social and economic empowerment of women – the very thing that direct-selling company Avon is striving to achieve for everyone – yet it remains a prevailing problem worldwide.
“Through our experiences, we have learned that no matter how sound the financial opportunity is, women cannot truly be empowered unless their health and safety are guaranteed,” shares Avon Products, Inc. chief executive officer Sheri McCoy.
In the Philippines, as in other countries across the globe, the common obstacle that hinders the fight for its reduction and eventual eradication is that existing laws are not understood or not consistently implemented.
“There are laws passed, but frequently, what happens is that people just stand back and admire it,” posits Dyer. She continues, “We need to do more than just admire the law. We need to implement the law and make these laws work for victims and hold defendants accountable.”
The solution
In March 2010, the Avon Foundation for Women, Vital Voices and the US Department of State forged a public-private partnership to create Global Partnership to End Violence Against Women.
Through the awareness education and prevention programs conducted, the partners were able to determine the common barrier in stopping gender violence.
“We’ve learned that although each country faces different challenges, the delegations have reported that existing laws are not understood, often leaving women unprotected and their abusers unaccountable,” shares Avon Foundation for Women program director Christine Jaworsky.
To address this common challenge across countries, the Global Partnership then launched The Justice Institute for Gender-Based Violence in 2014.
The Justice Institute is an innovative and interactive multidisciplinary training and technical assistance collaboration that brings together judges, court officers, public prosecutors, police officers, representatives of government agencies and non-governmental service providers.
It is designed to establish collaboration among the aforementioned allied professionals with the goal of improving victim protection efforts and criminal justice response to domestic violence.
“[The Justice Institute] focuses on talent collaboration, because we believe that multi-sectoral approach is essential to reduce violence against women in the world,” says Jaworsky.
Since its inception, Avon Foundation has helped launch and fund Justice Institutes in Brazil, India, Mexico, Nepal and South Africa.
As Avon celebrates its 130th anniversary this year, it is committing $500,000 for funding of new Justice Institutes in Colombia, Turkey and in the Philippines, as well as re-convening Institutes in South Africa and India.
A three-day training, which brought together 60 of the finest judges, prosecutors, police officers, and government and NGO representatives in the country, was recently held at the Diamond Hotel in Manila. The interactive training sessions taught the participants to better understand how to implement the existing laws that protect gender-based violence victims in the Philippines.
They worked in collaboration to create strategies and community coordinated action plans to overcome challenges facing the prosecution of domestic and sexual violence here in the country.
According to Dyer, the training will be followed by a 6-month evaluation and follow-up reports with the participants. “We really want this to be something that is ongoing,” she says.
Domestic violence is present in many nations, but the Avon Foundation and Vital Voices, together with their partners, are helping fight this together – one Justice Institute at a time.
“We chose to launch this here in the Philippines because you already have good laws and have dedicated individuals on the ground who really want to make your laws work,” explains Dyer.
“No one working alone can make these laws work but when we work together as part of a coordinated community response, we absolutely can be successful in helping victims prevent violence,” she adds.
Because when a woman is abused, the whole community needs to stand with her and behind her.