"It will be interesting to know what the President would do."
"It will be interesting to know what the President would do."
The Bicameral Conference Committee has already threshed out the differing provisions of SB No. 1558 and HB No. 8794, the bills that criminalize gender-based sexual harassment in public spaces. The Committee report entitled “Safe Spaces Act,” however, has yet to be sent to Malacañang for the signature of President Duterte.
While there is an existing anti-sexual harassment law, its coverage is severely limited as it only applies to workplaces. The reality is that sexual harassment in its various forms happen everywhere and not just in workplaces.
The “Safe Spaces (hopefully, soon to be) Act” is much more relevant to our existing context. For instance, street harassment is very common in the form of cat-calling, wolf-whistling, and the like but the existing law is irrelevant to these cases unless the parties involved are co-workers. This bill covers these acts.
While victims of sexual harassment remain to be largely women, the bill recognizes that other genders, especially members of the LGBTQI community are also targeted. The bill’s intent is to protect all persons from gender-based sexual harassment and certainly, women will benefit if this bill becomes a law.
The bill covers public spaces like streets, alleys, government offices, parks, public markets, and schools. It also covers establishments that are privately owned but are open to the public like malls, restaurants, bars, and the like. Public utility vehicles are likewise covered.
The bill criminalizes online gender-based sexual harassment. This is quite important since the Internet and other information and communication technologies are being used to sexually harass, abuse, threaten, and violate people, particularly women and those of different genders, sexual orientation, and identities. Online harassment has become very common and a law should penalize this.
The Safe Spaces bill recognizes that sexual harassment between peers, not only between a superior and a subordinate, happens in workplaces and educational and training institutions. Indeed, power relations premised on sex or gender exist even among peers.
Another vital thing that this bill does is to comprehensively cover the many and varied acts of sexual harassment that happen in our environs.
For instance, the bill includes the following as gender-based streets and public spaces sexual harassment: “Catcalling, wolf-whistling, unwanted invitations, misogynistic, transphobic, homophobic and sexist slurs, persisted uninvited comments or gestures on a person’s appearance, relentless requests for personal details, statement of sexual comments and suggestions, public masturbation of flashing of private parts, groping, or any advances, whether verbal or physical, that is unwanted and has threatened one’s sense of personal space and physical safety, and committed in public spaces…”
Gender-based online harassment is defined as “online conduct targeted at a particular person that causes or likely to cause another mental, emotional or psychological distress, and fear of personal safety, sexual harassment acts including unwanted sexual remarks and comments, threats, uploading or sharing of one’s photos without consent, video and audio recordings, cyber-stalking, and online identity theft.”
Section 11, Specific Acts and Penalties for Gender-based Sexual Harassment in Streets and Public Spaces, further specifies the acts that are criminalized and corresponding penalties are indicated.
“Cursing, wolf-whisting, cat-calling, leering and intrusive gazing, taunting, unwanted invitations, misogynistic, transphobic, homophobic and sexist slurs, persistent unwanted comments on one’s appearance, relentless requests for personal details, use of words, gestures or actions that ridicule on the basis of sex, gender or sexual orientation, identity and/or expression, persistent telling of sexual jokes, use of sexual names, comments and demands and any statement that invades a person’s personal space, or threatens the person’s sense of personal safety carry with them the following penalties:
For first offense: P1,000.00 fine and community service of twelve hours including attendance in a Gender Sensitivity Seminar (GSS); second offense: imprisonment of six to ten days, or fine of P3,000.00; and third offense: imprisonment of eleven to thirty days AND a fine of P10,000.00.
Making offensive body gestures at someone, and exposing private parts for the sexual gratification of the perpetrator with the effect of demeaning, harassing, threatening or intimidating the offended party including flashing private parts, public masturbation, groping, and similar lewd actions are punishable by:
First offense: fine of P10,000.00 and community service of twelve hours inclusive of attendance in GSS; second offense: imprisonment of eleven to thirty days, or a P15,000.00 fine; and third offense: imprisonment of one month and one day to six months, AND a fine of P20,000.00
Stalking and any of previous acts when accompanied by touching, pinching, or brushing against the body of the offended person; or any touching pinching, or brushing against the genitalia, face, arms, anus, groin, breasts, inner thighs, buttocks or any part of the victim’s body will be meted the following punishment:
First offense: imprisonment of eleven to thirty days, or a P30,000.00 fine, with attendance in a GSS; second offense: imprisonment of one month and one day up to six months, or a fine of P50,000.00; and third offense: imprisonment of six years, or fine of P100,000.00.”
Listed as punishable gender-based online sexual harassment re: “acts that use information and communications technology in terrorizing and intimidating victims through physical, psychological, and emotional threats, unwanted sexual misogynistic, transphobic, and sexist remarks and comments online whether publicly or through direct and private messages, invasion of victim’s privacy through cyber-stalking and incessant messaging, uploading and sharing without the consent of the victim, any form of media that contains photos, voice or video with sexual content, any unauthorized recording and sharing of any of the victim’s photos, videos, or any information online, impersonating identities of victims online or posting lies about victims to harm their reputation, or filing false abuse reports to online platforms to silence victims.”
The penalties for gender-based online sexual harassment are prision correccional in its medium period (imprisonment of two years, four months and one day to four years), or a fine of not more than P500,000.00.
Sexual harassment is rampant and we need a law that will help minimize this abuse and provide recourse to victims. The Safe Spaces bill should become a law. I hope that Congress will soon forward the bill to Malacañang for the president’s signature. It will be interesting to know what Duterte will do.
@bethangsioco on Twitter. Elizabeth Angsioco on Facebook