CALAMBA CITY
(PIA) – The decline in reported cases of violence
against women in Region IV-A should not lead
the community to drop its
guard, according to the
Philippine Commission on
Women.
In Calabarzon,
women ages 15 to 49
who experienced physical
violence from their husbands or intimate partners
dropped from 11% in 2017
to 6% in 2022, the Philippine Statistics Authority
reported on July 11 based
on the 2022 National Demographic and Health
Survey (NDHS) regional
data dissemination forum.
But Kristie
Blames, PCW Deputy Executive Director for Operations, said despite the
decline in reported cases,
violence is unacceptable
and that the community
needs to step up efforts to
end violence against women (VAW).
“Violence is not
justifiable at all costs,” she
added.
She urged local
governments and government agencies to make
use of the NDHS data in
formulating action plans to
put an end to VAW.
In 2022, Region
V (Bicol) topped the incidents of violence against
women in the same age
group at 26.5%, followed
by Region I (Ilocos) at
25% and Region IV-B (MIMAROPA) at 23.7%, the
PSA reported on its website.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region
in Muslim Mindanao
(BARMM) had the least
incidents of VAW at 5.6%,
followed by Region IV-A
at 13.9% and the National
Capital Region at 13.4%.
Balmes said
more LGUs could set up
their own women violence
services similar to the
Gender and Development
(GAD) local government
hubs that some LGUs
have established.
“We need the
support of all the agencies and local government
units in our campaign
to end violence against
women and children to
drive home the message
that there is no room for
violence (in society),” she
added.
Balmes admitted that the 18-Day
Campaign to end VAW
was not enough to raise
awareness, noting that
the help-seeking behavior
of women remains low at
42%, or only two in five
women never told anyone
and sought help about
the violence they experienced, while 24%, or one
in four women, told someone but never sought help.
The NDHS provides data for monitoring the health situation
in the Philippines. It also
outlines the latest statistics on issues concerning
women and children, including their employment
and earnings, access to
reproductive healthcare,
childhood mortality, exposure to violence, health
insurance coverage,
vaccination status, and
breastfeeding. (AM, PIA
4A
