Men on the Elimination of Violence Against Women - The Phillipines

Forty-two barangay chairmen and 40 policemen participated in the 2-part seminar-workshops. Invitations were sent by the City Mayors, whose authority covered the barangay chairmen; by the Chief of Police of the three cities that sent participants; and by the Regional Command Police Chief, who possessed jurisdiction over all police forces in Cebu.

The first workshop was devoted to understanding gender, gender biases and prejudices, and their linkages to VAW. Participants in this workshop noted that VAW is both a social and a public health problem and that nobody deserves violence. They also evaluated responses from the community with regard to VAW. The second workshop focused on VAW and its elimination. Conducted in December 2001, this workshop dealt with the role of men in eliminating VAW.

The following communication materials, bearing the theme of "men's involvement and participation in EVAW", were also designed and distributed:

• A 30-second radio spot in the local dialect that was aired on four radio broadcast stations in Cebu. The spot took the format of a soap opera featuring a woman being beaten by her husband (a barangay chairman) and a male resident of the barangay. Due to the incidence of domestic violence, the barangay chairman instructed the other male characters to gather all the men of their barangay to prevent similar events from happening. The spot was broadcast 40 times daily for 16 days.
• A poster that was produced in the local dialect and displayed in all barangay meeting halls and all police stations in metropolitan Cebu. The poster, which included illustrations representing barangay chairmen and policemen, bore the message "Stop Violence Against Women". A total of 1,000 copies of this poster were printed.

As a follow-up to the workshops, a foot parade wasconducted on December 2 2003 by male government officials and by policemen in the City of Mandaue with the intention of proclaiming their continuing call for the elimination of all forms of violence against women.

Gender, Women, Health, Rights.

Gender hierarchies and gender inequalities tend to both reflect and perpetuate gender-based violence. This type of violence is manifested primarily as men's violence against women and girls, and occurs in a wide variety of forms. In the Phillipines, domestic disturbances (including violence among family members) are brought before village committees headed by the barangay chairmen. Policemen then attend to the preservation of peace and order. The police force often assigns cases involving violence against women to policewomen, denying policemen the opportunity to understand women's experience with violence.

Gender-based violence has received growing attention since the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna. As part of this effort, on an annual basis the World Conference commemorates the quest for EVAW through a period of intense activism starting November 25 and culminating on the International Human Rights Day, December 10.

Action plans from the workshops detailed above include:

• Inventory of barangay cases on maltreatment of spouses and children; re-invitation of the parties involved; follow-through from the previous dialogue/agreement towards enlightening the spouses on the rights of women
• Formation of a monitoring group on EVAW among the barangays
• Initiation of an information-sharing network on EVAW among men in barangays with the assistance of local experts
• Work to educate young men on gender, the presence of VAW, and the role of men
• Support of policy and legislative initiatives on domestic violence through active participation in public hearings and through strong lobbies
• Compassionate assistance for victims of VAW
• The search for role models who can promote EVAW in the communities
• Promotion of respect for women in general.

In March 2002, a meeting to report progress among the participants was convened. In mid-2004, organisers indicated that "Success has been registered for the last two years with an observed reduction of cases and of complaints relative to gender-based violence in communities."