The [anti-]violence Against Women And Their Children Act Of 2004 (ra 9262)

[Markham]

On another site recently a member asked for advice that he could pass on to a girl he knew who was being harassed and stalked by a Filipino she had been out with a few times but no longer wished to see. In one of my posts in that thread, I made mention of a fairly recent piece of Philippine legislation, "The Violence Against Women and their Children Act" believing that it covers the offences being complained of - which indeed it does.This Act is actually rather remarkable and, I suggest, far more wide-ranging than one might find in a western country let alone the Philippines as it criminalises physical, emotional, psychological and economic abuse of women and children.You can read the full text of the Act at this Government web page but I'll include the text of two important Sections:Section 3 defines the terms used in the Act:-

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms.- As used in this Act, (a) "Violence against women and their children" refers to any act or a series of acts committed by any person against a woman who is his wife, former wife, or against a woman with whom the person has or had a sexual or dating relationship, or with whom he has a common child, or against her child whether legitimate or illegitimate, within or without the family abode, which result in or is likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological harm or suffering, or economic abuse including threats of such acts, battery, assault, coercion, harrasment or arbitrary deprivation of liberty. It includes, but is not limited to, the following acts: 1. "Physical Violence" refers to acts that include bodily or physical harm; 2. "Sexual violence" refers to an act which is sexual in nature, committed against a woman or her child. It includes, but is not limited to: 1. rape, sexual harassment, acts of lasciviousness, treating a woman or her child as a sex object, making demeaning and sexually suggestive remarks, physically attacking the sexual parts of the victim

[Genius]

On another site recently a member asked for advice that he could pass on to a girl he knew who was being harassed and stalked by a Filipino she had been out with a few times but no longer wished to see. In one of my posts in that thread, I made mention of a fairly recent piece of Philippine legislation, "The Violence Against Women and their Children Act" believing that it covers the offences being complained of - which indeed it does.This Act is actually rather remarkable and, I suggest, far more wide-ranging than one might find in a western country let alone the Philippines as it criminalises physical, emotional, psychological and economic abuse of women and children.You can read the full text of the Act at this Government web page but I'll include the text of two important Sections:Section 3 defines the terms used in the Act:-

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms.- As used in this Act, (a) "Violence against women and their children" refers to any act or a series of acts committed by any person against a woman who is his wife, former wife, or against a woman with whom the person has or had a sexual or dating relationship, or with whom he has a common child, or against her child whether legitimate or illegitimate, within or without the family abode, which result in or is likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological harm or suffering, or economic abuse including threats of such acts, battery, assault, coercion, harrasment or arbitrary deprivation of liberty. It includes, but is not limited to, the following acts: 1. "Physical Violence" refers to acts that include bodily or physical harm; 2. "Sexual violence" refers to an act which is sexual in nature, committed against a woman or her child. It includes, but is not limited to: 1. rape, sexual harassment, acts of lasciviousness, treating a woman or her child as a sex object, making demeaning and sexually suggestive remarks, physically attacking the sexual parts of the victim's body, forcing her/him to watch obscene publications and indecent shows or forcing the woman or her child to do indecent acts and/or make films thereof, forcing the wife and mistress/lover to live in the conjugal home or sleep together in the same room with the abuser; 2. acts causing or attempting to cause the victim to engage in any sexual activity by force, threat of force, physical or other harm or threat of physical or other harm or coercion; 3. Prostituting the woman or child. 3. "Psychological violence" refers to acts or omissions causing or likely to cause mental or emotional suffering of the victim such as but not limited to intimidation, harassment, stalking, damage to property, public ridicule or humiliation, repeated verbal abuse and mental infidelity. It includes causing or allowing the victim to witness the physical, sexual or psychological abuse of a member of the family to which the victim belongs, or to witness pornography in any form or to witness abusive injury to pets or to unlawful or unwanted deprivation of the right to custody and/or visitation of common children. 4. "Economic abuse" refers to acts that make or attempt to make a woman financially dependent which includes, but is not limited to the following: 1. withdrawal of financial support or preventing the victim from engaging in any legitimate profession, occupation, business or activity, except in cases wherein the other spouse/partner objects on valid, serious and moral grounds as defined in Article 73 of the Family Code; 2. deprivation or threat of deprivation of financial resources and the right to the use and enjoyment of the conjugal, community or property owned in common; 3. destroying household property; 4. controlling the victims' own money or properties or solely controlling the conjugal money or properties. (b) "Battery" refers to an act of inflicting physical harm upon the woman or her child resulting to the physical and psychological or emotional distress.

[TheMason]

Trouble with the phillipines having all these wide ranging laws based on the worst excess's of the american model, (but no balancing countervailing forces, like an effective supreme court), is the perrenial problem of enforcement in an underfunded third world corrupt state. Basically, laws like this will never be enforced in the slums of the big cities or the distant countryside and will just be used by powerful entrenched segmentsto get at each other and those weaker for whatever reason........ (what me a cynic?)

I couldn't agree with you more. This law criminalizes speech if the listener *thinks* it causes pain, anguish, or humiliation. Theoretically, a husband can be jailed if somenone overhears him telling his wife 'you look fat in those clothes'. The law also only requires that the woman or child *think* the man might hit them. If the man's actions or words make her *think* violence is imminent, the man has comitted a crime under this law. Another classic provision of this law is that "mental infidelity" constitutes abuse against women. I guess that means if you see a hot chick in the mall and think 'I'd like to get a piece of that' you have just committed violence against women and can be jailed.Aside from the rich and powerful abusing others, I can also see this law being used by unscrupulous Filipinas to extort their expat husbands/boyfriends. All the woman needs to do is provoke the man into yelling at her, claim she felt threatened and intimidated, and have him arrested. I'm sure there are police officers and other official that would gladly help out for a cut of the extortion money.This law is the biggest piece of crap I've seen in a long, long time.