Implementing the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act in our universities

25-26 July 2012-- I gave seminar on Gender and Development (GAD) to administrators and professors of the campuses of the Technological University of the Philippines (TUP) and the Philippine State College of Aeronautics (PhilSCA). One of the things I asked them was:What are working and learning conditions in our universities?

We have to pay attention to the conditions that affect working and learning. If there is depression among the students, we have to listen and really observe. How many schools actually have psychiatrists who can understand and really be sensitive to cases of violence, particularly sexual harassment? Some of the best professors are actually the perpetrators themselves. Even employees who harass co-workers should be dealt with. We need training to counsel survivors and deal with cases.

We have the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995. This law still needs amendment because it lacks provisions dealing with cases involving peers, co-employees, between students and other situations where the perpetrator does not have moral ascendancy or higher level of authority over the victim. But while the law needs improvement, we have no reason not to implement it.

I am reminded of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum s.2011: Submission by all higher education institutions of reports on the compliance to Republic Act no. 7877 otherwise known as the "Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995 --

This memorandum directs all heads of all public and private higher education institutions, CHED commissioners, the CHED Executive Director and the CHED Central and Regional Office Directors to submit reports on compliances to Republic Act No. 7877. How compliant are we with this? Which schools have actually created functioning Committees on Decorum and Investigation (CODI)? 

Happiness and the RH Bill

“Kailangan nating matutong makipag-usap sa asawang lalaki. Hindi sa lahat ng oras ay gusto ng babae na magbuntis. Ipasa ang Reproductive Health (RH) bill para masaya ang mag-asawa.” (We should learn how to negotiate with the husband. Women do not want to get pregnant every so often. Pass the RH bill so married couples will be happy.) 

This was my main statement at the grand rally on May 29 at the SB Park Batasan Hills, Quezon City for the celebration of the May 28 International Day of Action for Women’s Health with the theme “Pag-aaruga sa Kababaihan, Tungo sa Malusog na Kinabukasan.” 

Statistics are alarming. Reading the 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), I learned that more than half (54%) of married women age 15-49 do not want another child. The 19 percent of them want to have another child but would prefer to wait two (2) or more years. Only 63 percent of births in the country are planned; 20 percent are mistimed; and 16 percent are unwanted.

Section 20 (Right to Health) of the Magna Carta of Women (MCW) provides for the implementation of a comprehensive national strategy that will reduce women’s health risks, including those resulting from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. The RH bill addresses the needs of women who carry the bulk of burden of feed her family and continue to be at risk every time she gives birth. Access to information and services addressing reproductive health needs is a human right.

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Organizers of the event were:
Likhaan Center for Women’s Health (lead the event)National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC)
Philippine Commission on Women (PCW)
Department of Health (DOH)
Presidential Commission on the Urban Poor (PCUP)
Commission on Higher Education (CHED)
Quezon City government and community leaders of Barangays Batasan, Commonwealth and Payatas in Quezon City
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)

The International Day of Action on Women’s Health, celebrated every 28th of May and first observed in 1987, allows the world to focus its attention on women’s health needs as requisites for sustainable human development.