DSWD assists over 12K abused women in 2021-2023

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assisted 12,055 individuals who were victim-survivors of violence against women and their children (VAWC) from 2021 to 2023, a senior social worker of the agency said on Thursday (November 28).

“Para sa Republic Act (RA) 9262 or the Anti-VAWC Act of 2004, sinasabi sa batas na ito na dapat kinikilala natin ang karapatan ng mga biktima ng karahasan. Dahil dito, dapat natin silang bigyan ng naaayon, available, at accessible services,” Social Welfare Officer (SWO) Carol Nuyda told reporters during the DSWD Thursday Media Forum at the Central Office’s New Press Center in Quezon City.

SWO Nuyda said the DSWD provided comprehensive assistance to survivors of violence through the Residential and Non-Residential Care Services, the Recovery and Reintegration Program for Trafficked Persons (RRPTP), and various community-based services.

The agency’s interventions include psychosocial care or counseling; psychological or psychiatric testing; provision of professional health services; referral for medico-legal examinations; and mechanisms for protection against mental, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, as well as other forms of exploitation.

SWO Nuyda said the DSWD also provides clothing and personal items, offers legal and paralegal assistance, and facilitates referrals or transfers to local government units (LGUs) or registered and licensed private residential care facilities for temporary shelter or proactive custody.

VAW is defined as “any act or a series of acts committed by any person against a woman which resulted or is likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological harm or suffering, or economic abuse including threats of such acts, battery, assault, coercion, harassment or arbitrary deprivation of liberty.”

SWO Nuyda said a woman can be considered a victim if she is the perpetrator’s wife, former wife, or if she has had a sexual or dating relationship with the perpetrator.

The same applies to any woman sharing a child with the perpetrator, regardless of whether the child is legitimate or illegitimate and irrespective of their living situation, according to the DSWD social worker.

The press briefing on VAW is one of the initiatives of the DSWD to raise awareness and promote the agency’s programs and services for victim-survivors of VAWC as part of the 18-day campaign to end violence against women.

“We have this campaign to address the root causes of VAW. Bakit po nakafocus sa VAW? It is because of the patriarchal order of the society despite the modernization that we have… Because of this unequal status in the society, masasabi po natin na nasa disadvantaged position ang kababaihan kaya mas nangangailangan sila ng protection at responses from the government,” SWO Nuyda explained.

The weekly Thursday Media Forum is a production of the DSWD’s Strategic Communications group and is hosted by Special Assistant to the Secretary (SAS) for Communications Raymond Robert Burgos and Director Lara Duran, officer-in-charge (OIC) of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications and head of the Agency Operations Service (AOS). It is live-streamed over the DSWD Facebook page.

Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Notice

 DSWD Privacy Policy

  • Policy Statement

This privacy notice discloses the privacy practices for (https://www.dswd.gov.ph). This privacy notice applies solely to information collected by this website in compliance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012.

  • Privacy Notice For Processing Inquiries And Requests

Individuals will be provided a Personal Information Collection Statement in an appropriate format and manner whenever personal data is collected (i.e. in the manual form or web page that collects personal data, or in a notice posted at the reception area of NPC events where participants’ personal data is collected through attendance sheets).

  • Personal Data Collected

The following personal information may be collected, manually or electronically,  upon submission of inquiries or requests:

  1.       Name
  2.       E-Mail Address
  3.       Contact Number

The DSWD uses Google Analytics, Twitter Widgets, PowerBI and Tableau, third-party services to render feeds, visualizations, and analyze the web traffic data for us. These services use cookies. Data generated is not shared with any other party. The following web traffic data are analyzed:

  1. User IP address
  2. The search terms used
  3. The pages and internal links accessed on our site
  4. The date and time a user visits the site
  5. Geolocation
  6. The referring site or platform, if any 
  7. Operating system
  8. Web browser type
  • Information Collection, Use, and Sharing

The DSWD is the sole owner of the information collected on this site. The DSWD only has access to/collect information that you voluntarily give us via the modules of this website or other direct contact from you. All of the provisions in the Data Privacy Act will be observed specifically on the management of personally identifiable information.

Information collected may be used as a basis for client response regarding services or intervention that may be provided by the DSWD. Information will not be shared with any third party outside of the Government, other than as necessary to fulfill the requested services of a client. The DSWD, however, reserves the right to request the applicants to submit the hardcopy of documentary requirements in order to verify the authenticity of the information.

Unless otherwise provided, the DSWD or any of its authorized personnel may contact the client via email or SMS in the future for the purpose of status updates with regard to the transaction/service request, changes to this privacy policy, or other information reasonably necessary to effect the social service mandate of the DSWD.

  • Access and Correction

An individual has the right to ask for a copy of any personal information held by the DSWD about him or her; as well as the right to ask for corrections should any information be inaccurate or erroneous. To do so, please contact our Data Protection Officer, ASEC Irene B. Dumlao, through the following email address: dpo@dswd.gov.ph.

  • Security

The DSWD takes precautions to protect information. Upon submission of sensitive information via the website, information is protected both online and offline. Wherever the Department collects sensitive information (such as passport and Birth Certificates), that information is encrypted and transmitted to the DSWD in a secure manner. This may be verified by looking for a lock icon in the address bar and looking for "https" at the beginning of the address of the web page. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, certificate printing or customer service) are granted access to personally identifiable information. The computers/servers, where personally identifiable information is stored, are kept in a secure environment.

  • Consent

By using our website, you hereby consent to our Privacy Policy and agree to its terms.

  • Feedback on our Privacy Notice

For suggestions with regard to this privacy notice, you may email inquiry@dswd.gov.ph, or call (632) 931-8101 to 07.