One out of five women, aged 15-49, has experienced physical violence, 14.4 percent of married women have experienced physical abuse from their husbands; 37 percent of separated or widowed women have experienced physical violence, according to Department of Social Welfare and Development, quoting the 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey conducted by the National Statistics Office.

In 2011, some 15,104 cases of domestic violence were recorded by the Women and Children Protection Center of the Philippine National Police. The 2011 figure is 5,619 cases more than the 2010 figure of 9,485 cases. For 2012, some 12,948 cases were recorded covering January to August.

“Violence against women is one of the challenges the world is facing today. It has turned into a pervasive human rights violation. It violates the fundamental freedom of women and impedes the development of their full potential,” Social Welfare and Development Secretary Dinky Soliman said.

In an effort to address the growing phenomenon of violence against women (VAW) especially in the Asian region, member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will gather for the Training Workshop on Strengthening Capacities of Communities, Practitioners and Policy Makers to Address Violence Against Women (VAW) on November 27-29 in Manila.

The training is part of DSWD’s commitment to advance the goals of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25.

The three-day training workshop is organized by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). It will be participated in by social workers, law enforcement officers and non-government organizations (NGOs) involved in managing cases of victims-survivors of violence against women, from the ten ASEAN member-states, namely; Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines.

The gathering aims to provide a venue for participating countries to share their initiatives, strategies, gains, challenges, and recommendations on strengthening capacities of communities, practitioners and policy makers in addressing VAW focusing on victims-survivors,  perpetrators and  enabling mechanisms.

The workshop hopes to identify common approaches that service providers and practitioners can adopt to effectively address violence against women in the Asian region.

ASEAN member-states have been undertaking different measures to study and address violence against women. At the national level, measures undertaken include legislation and legal reform, action plan formulation, implementation of programs and projects, setting up of referrals and linkages and working closely with NGOs.

Previously, the Philippines conducted two ASEAN Training Workshops, in 2003 and 2005, as part of the strategies to address VAW collectively undertaken by the ASEAN member-states. The previous activities sought to strengthen effective mechanisms to prevent domestic violence, and increase the competency of ASEAN member-countries in addressing the gaps on VAW interventions focusing on the treatment and rehabilitation of the perpetrators of domestic violence.

“This time, we need to focus on the service providers and stakeholders, particularly on strengthening the capacities of communities, practitioners and policy makers as the next step to eliminate violence against women.  We are looking forward to a fruitful sharing of ideas and strategies that will effectively eliminate this social malady in the Asian region,” Secretary Soliman emphasized. ###