ARTICLE 25

UNI V E R SAL DE CL AR ATI ON

OF H UMAN R I G H T S

Atty. Cybill Diaz-Templonuevo, RN, MAN

 CEDAW
• Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (1979)
 CEDAW
• ‘women’s bill of rights’
• core international human rights treaties of the United Nations
treaty system
• requires Member States to undertake legal obligations to respect,
protect and fulfill human rights.
• adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 19, 1979
• a treaty on December 3, 1981.
• ratified or acceded to by 187 countries to date, or about 90 per
cent of the UN membership.
 CEDAW
• The articles of CEDAW fall into three main groups:
• I - the nature and scope of the State’s obligations;
• II - specific forms of discrimination and outlines
measures that the State must undertake to eliminate
discrimination in each of these areas;
• III - procedural and administrative matters, such as the
way the CEDAW reporting process works.
https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/focus-areas/cedaw-human-rights/faq
 CEDAW IN THE PHILIPPINES

• CEDAW came into effect on September 3, 1981

• the Philippines has signed it on July 15, 1980 and
ratified it on August 5, 1981
• PH is the first ASEAN country to do so
• The Philippines also ratified the Optional Protocol
to the CEDAW on November 12, 2003.
Source: https://www.pcw.gov.ph/international-commitments/cedaw/philippine-participation
ONE OUT OF FOUR
Filipinas experience
violence in all forms
 VIOLENCE AGAINST FILIPINAS

• 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS)

• one in four (26%) ever-married women aged 15-49 has ever
experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence by their
husband or partner
• One in five (20%) women has ever experienced emotional
violence, 14 percent has ever experienced physical violence,
and 5 percent has ever experienced sexual violence by their
current or most recent husband or partner.
https://psa.gov.ph/content/one-four-women-have-ever-experienced-spousal-violence-preliminary-results-2017-national
 VIOLENCE AGAINST FILIPINAS
• the percentage of women who have experienced violence
declines slightly with women’s age.
• Women who are divorced, separated, or widowed are more
likely to have experienced all forms of violence compared
with women who are married or living together with a
partner
• varies widely by region: 7% of ever-married women in the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao compared with 52 %
of ever-married women in Caraga.
https://psa.gov.ph/content/one-four-women-have-ever-experienced-spousal-violence-preliminary-results-2017-national
 PHILIPPINE LAWS AND CEDAW

• enactment of Republic Act 9710, otherwise

known as the Magna Carta of Women
• which is a comprehensive women's human rights
law that seeks to eliminate discrimination against
women by recognizing, protecting, fulfilling and
promoting the rights of Filipino women,
especially those in the marginalized sectors.
 TRIVIA
What year were
Filipina’s allowed
SEPTEMBER 17, 1937
 DISCRIMINATION AGAINST
WOMEN

• any gender-based distinction, exclusion, or restriction

• effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the
recognition, enjoyment, or exercise
• by women, irrespective of their marital status,
• on a basis of equality of men and women
• of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the
political, economic, social, cultural, civil, or any other field
 DISCRIMINATION AGAINST
WOMEN

• any act or omission

including by law; policy, administrative measure, or
practice,
• that directly or indirectly excludes or restricts women
in the recognition and promotion of their rights
• and their access to and enjoyment of opportunities,
benefits, or privileges.
 DISCRIMINATION AGAINST
WOMEN

A measure or practice of general application:

1. if it fails to provide for mechanisms to offset or address sex
or gender-based disadvantages or limitations of women
as a result of which women are denied or restricted in:
the recognition and protection of their rights
their access to and enjoyment of opportunities, benefits,
or privileges;
2. women, more than men, are shown to have suffered the
greater adverse effects of those measures or practices.
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
PROVISION, AVAILABILITY, AND ACCESSIBILITY
Of opportunities, services, and observance of human rights
which enable women to actively participate and contribute
to the political, economic, social, and cultural development of
the nation
as well as those which shall provide them equal access to
ownership, management, and control of production, and of
material and informational resources and benefits in the family,
community, and society.
 SECTION 9. PROTECTION
FROM VIOLENCE

• Agencies of government shall give priority to the defense and protection

of women against gender-based offenses
• incremental increase in the recruitment and training of women in the
police force, forensics and medico-legal, legal services, and social work
services availed of by women who are victims of gender-related offenses
until fifty percent (50%) of the personnel thereof shall be women
• All government personnel - a mandatory training on human rights and
gender sensitivity
• All LGUshall establish a Violence Against Women's Desk in every barangay
 SECTION 21. RIGHT TO HOUSING

The State shall develop housing programs for

women that are localized, simple, accessible, with
potable water, and electricity, secure, with viable
employment opportunities and affordable
amortization. In this regard, the State shall consult
women and involve them in community planning
and development, especially in matters pertaining
to land use, zoning, and relocation.
 SECTION 18. SPECIAL LEAVE
BENEFITS FOR WOMEN

• two (2) months with full pay

• following surgery caused by
gynecological disorders
• continuous aggregate employment
service of at least six (6) months for the
last twelve (12) months
 PHILIPPINE LAWS AND CEDAW

• RA 7877 Anti-Sexual Harassment Act

• RA 8353 Anti-Rape Law
• RA 8505 Rape Victim Assistance and Protection Act
• RA 9208 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act
• RA 9262 Anti-Violence against Women and their Children Act
• Family Code
• Women’s and Children’s Desks and Services
RA 7877 ANTI-SEXUAL
HARASSMENT ACT
 SEXUAL HARASSMENT

• WORK-RELATED OR EMPLOYMENT
ENVIRONMENT
• EDUCATION OR TRAINING
ENVIRONMENT
 SEXUAL HARASSMENT

• AUTHORITY
• INFLUENCE
• MORAL ASCENDANCY
• regardless of whether the demand, request
or requirement for submission is accepted
SEXUAL HARASSMENT

FAVOR
“made a condition”
 SEXUAL HARASSMENT

• AUTHORITY
• INFLUENCE
• MORAL ASCENDANCY
• regardless of whether the demand, request
or requirement for submission is accepted
RA 8353 ANTI-RAPE LAW
 RAPE OF THE FIRST KIND

•By a man who shall have CARNAL

KNOWLEDGE of a woman
•offended party is under twelve (12)
years of age or is demented
 RAPE OF THE SECOND KIND

• By any person who commit an act of

sexual assault
• inserting his penis into another person's
mouth or anal orifice or any instrument or
object, into the genital or anal orifice of
another person
RA 8505 RAPE VICTIM ASSISTANCE
AND PROTECTION ACT
 RAPE CRISIS CENTER

• in every province and city a rape crisis center located in a government

hospital or health clinic or in any other suitable place
• FOR:
• Counselling, medical and health services, including their medico-legal
examination
• Securing free legal assistance or service
• privacy and safety of rape victims
• Developing and undertaking a training program for law enforcement officers,
public prosecutors, lawyers, medico-legal officers, social workers, and barangay
officials
• Adopting and implementing programs for the recovery of rape victims
 SECTION 4. DUTY OF POLICE
OFFICER

• police officer or the examining physician, who must be

of the SAME GENDER as the offended party, to ensure
that only persons expressly authorized by the
offended party shall be allowed inside the room
• WOMEN'S DESK must be established in every police
precinct – police woman on woman rape victims
• preliminary investigation proper or inquest of women
rape victims must be assigned to female prosecutor
 RAPE SHIELD

• evidence of complainant's past

sexual conduct, opinion thereof or
of his/her reputation shall not be
admitted
RA 9208 ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN
PERSONS ACT
 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

• recruitment, transportation, transfer or harboring, or receipt of

persons
• with or without the victim's consent or knowledge
• within or across national borders
• by means of threat or use of force, or other forms of coercion,
abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of position, taking
advantage of the vulnerability of the person, or, the giving or
receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a
person having control over another person
 TRAFFICKING A CHILD

• Is considered “trafficking in persons” even if is does not involve

the means set forth in the preceding paragraph
RA 9262 ANTI-VIOLENCE AGAINST
WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN ACT
 VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND
THEIR CHILDREN

• committed by any person

• against a woman who is his wife, former wife
• against a woman with whom the person has or had
a sexual or dating relationship, or with whom
he has a common child
• against her child whether legitimate or illegitimate,
within or without the family abode
 ACTS OF VIOLENCE

• PHYSICAL VIOLENCE
• SEXUAL VIOLENCE
• PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE
• ECONOMIC ABUSE
 "BATTERED WOMAN
SYNDROME"

defined pattern of psychological and

behavioral symptoms found in women
living in battering relationships
 STALKING

• an intentional act committed by a person

who, knowingly and without lawful
justification FOLLOWS the woman or
her child or places the woman or her
child UNDER SURVEILLANCE directly
or indirectly or a combination thereof.
THE FAMILY CODE
OF THE PHILIPPINES
 CHILD CUSTODY ARTICLES

• Article 176 - ILLEGITIMATE CHILD

• single mothers have the sole parental authority over her
child
• Articles 102 (6) and 129 (9) presumes that any
child aged 7 years old and below is deemed to
choose the mother unless the court decides
otherwise
 ARTICLES 193 TO 203 OF THE FAMILY
CODE ON CHILD SUPPORT

• It is everything indispensable for food, shelter,

clothing, medical attendance, education, and
transportation in keeping with the financial
capacity of the family. The education referred
includes schooling or training for a profession,
trade or vocation, even beyond the age of majority.
And transportation includes expenses going to
and from school or place of work.
 ARTICLES 193 TO 203 OF THE FAMILY
CODE ON CHILD SUPPORT

• It is joint (whether married or not) and will

be taken from the absolute community or
conjugal property. The same also applies to
the provision of the child support of one
spouse by a previous marriage or
partnership.
 ARTICLES 193 TO 203 OF THE FAMILY
CODE ON CHILD SUPPORT

• It is in proportion to the resources and means of

the parent and the needs of the child. At the same
time, it can be reduced or increased
proportionately, based on the reduction or
increase of the parent’s resources and means, or
on the reduction or increase of the child’s needs.
Hence, it is never final.
IF CHILD’S FATHER DOES NOT HAVE
THE MEANS NOR CAPACITY TO FIND
SUFFICIENT CHILD SUPPORT?
 RA 9255

(An Act Allowing Illegitimate Children to Use the

Surname of Their Father, Amending for the Purpose
Article 176 of Executive Order No. 209, Otherwise
Known as the "Family Code of the Philippines")
 PRESIDENTIAL DEGREE NO. 603
“CHILD AND YOUTH WELFARE CODE”
 ARTICLE 3 – RIGHTS OF A CHILD

• All children shall be entitled to the

rights herein set forth without
distinction as to legitimacy or
illegitimacy, sex, social status, religion,
political antecedents, and other factors.
 RIGHT NO. 1

Every child is endowed with the dignity and

worth of a human being from the moment of his
conception, as generally accepted in medical
parlance, and has, therefore, the right to be born
well
 RIGHT NO. 2

Every child has the right to a wholesome family

life that will provide him/her with love, care and
understanding, guidance and counseling, and
moral and material security.
 RIGHT NO. 3

Every child has the right to a well-rounded

development of his personality to the end that he
may become a happy, useful and active member of
society.
 RIGHT NO. 4

Every child has the right to a balanced diet,

adequate clothing, sufficient shelter, proper
medical attention, and all the basic physical
requirements of a healthy and vigorous life.
 RIGHT NO. 5

Every child has the right to be brought up in an

atmosphere of morality and rectitude for the
enrichment and the strengthening of his
character.
 RIGHT NO. 6

Every child has the right to an education

commensurate with his abilities and to the
development of his skills for the improvement of
his capacity for service to himself and to his
fellowmen.
 RIGHT NO. 7

Every child has the right to full opportunities for

safe and wholesome recreation and activities,
individual as well as social, for the wholesome use
of his leisure hours.
 RIGHT NO. 8

Every child has the right to protection against

exploitation, improper influences, hazards, and
other conditions or circumstances prejudicial to
his physical, mental, emotion al, social and moral
development
 RIGHT NO. 9

Every child has the right to live in a community

and a society that can offer him an environment
free from pernicious influences and conducive to
the promotion of his health and the cultivation of
his desirable traits and attributes.
 RIGHT NO. 10

Every child has the right to the care, assistance,

and protection of the State, particularly when his
parents or guardians fail or are unable to provide
him with his fundamental needs for growth,
development, and improvement
 RIGHT NO. 11

Every child has the right to an efficient and

honest government that will deepen his faith in
democracy and inspire him with the morality of
the constituted authorities both in their public
and private lives
 RIGHT NO. 12

Every child has the right to grow up as a free

individual, in an atmosphere of peace,
understanding, tolerance, and universal
brotherhood, and with the determination to
contribute his share in the building of a better
world
 RA 7610
SPECIAL PROTECTION OF CHILDREN
AGAINST ABUSE, EXPLOITATION AND
DISCRIMINATION ACT
 SECTION 27. WHO MAY FILE A
COMPLAINT

• (a) Offended party;

• (b) Parents or guardians;
• (c) Ascendant or collateral relative within the third degree of consanguinity;
• (d) Officer, social worker or representative of a licensed child-caring institution;
• (e) Officer or social worker of the Department of Social Welfare and Development;
• (f) Barangay chairman; or
• (g) At least three (3) concerned responsible citizens where the violation occurred.