Kasakit na kamatajon! These
words still reverberate in our midst as we try to move on from the brutal
death of a teacher and her two children as they got stabbed to death by
allegedly the husband. The family man ran amok after episodes of depression and
mental instability which resulted to the painful demise of his family and
eventually himself.
Violence against women (VAW)
appears as one of the country’s pervasive social problems. According to the
2008 National Demographic and Health Survey conducted by the National
Statistics Office, one in five Filipino women age 15-49 has experienced physical
violence since age 15. It is indeed alarming that despite efforts to address
the concern, VAW persists.
VAW is deemed to be closely
linked with the unequal power relationship between women and men otherwise
known as “gender-based violence.” Societal norms and traditions dictate people
to think men are the leaders, pursuers, providers, and take on dominant roles
in society while women are nurturers, men’s companions and supporters, and take
on subordinate roles in society. This perception leads to men gaining more
power over women. With power comes the need to control to retain that power.
And VAW is a form of men’s expression of controlling women to retain power
(osg.gov.ph).
When power is going to be
muddled with psychological imbalance, violence comes in. That is why a lot of
people are advocating mental health since manifestations of violence, untimely
death and violence to children have become pervasive in the country. Also, chemical
imbalance induced by drug intake is another cause of the rage and outbursts
among the people these days.
UNICEF mentions that according
to the 2015 National Baseline Survey on Violence Against Children in the
Philippines, there is a high prevalence of physical, psychological, sexual and
online violence committed on Filipino children. Eighty per cent of Filipino
children have experienced some form of violence at home, in school, in their
community and online. These are often committed by people they trust. Despite
the high incidence of violence, 7 in 10 children are not aware of services that
may be able to help them.
One could ask: Why do people
inflict pain on the people they vowed to love and protect? If these are coming
from the cultural implications that fathers are the ones to “straighten” the
paths of his family, will violence be acceptable? What evils lurk behind the facade
of such family men?
Aggression and violence in
adults are results of violent experiences from childhood. Parents who give
corporal punishments to their children oftentimes produce violent adults in the
future. The cycle will then continue. Aggressive children often turn into violent
adults, according to research from Concordia University that monitored local
kids from grade 1 through to adulthood.
Legislation and laws are present in
the Philippines. In section 2 of R.A. 9262: towards this end, the State shall
exert efforts to address violence committed against women and children in
keeping with the fundamental freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution and the
Provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the convention on the
Elimination of all forms of discrimination Against Women, Convention on the
Rights of the Child and other international human rights instruments of which
the Philippines is a party.
In the study conducted by
this writer. The Implementation of Anti-Violence Against Women and Their
Children Act in the Secondary Schools of CarCanMadCarLan area, Surigao del Sur,
it was found out that the schools only implement the law SOMETIMES specifically
focusing on physical violence. Lack of training of the law is mentioned as the
main culprit.
Aside from the massive
campaign for anti-drugs and mental health, there is a need for the people to
understand Gender and Development issues so to eliminate gender-based violence.
Also, a concerted effort among the local governments and the academe to orient
people about legislation and laws like RA 9262 (Anti-Violence Against Women
and their Children) must be done.
We do not want evil to
thrive among us. The society could not just allow things like a family
massacre to prevail. We need to act together. Violence must be stopped.
Domestic aggression is no longer a private thing. It is now a crime against
society. We report things similar to battery of women. We muddle with parents
who are abusive to their children. Or, as concerned citizen, we can report
these episodes to authorities.
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