The Women’s Resource Center of Visayas, Inc. (WRCV) is currently implementing a new project, “Empowering women’s organizations to improve access to services for women survivors of violence in Minglanilla, Cebu.”
The project is implemented in Barangays Tungkop, Calajoan, Tulay, and Tungkil in the Municipality of Minglanilla where there are women’s organizations who are partners of the WRCV in actively promoting the rights and welfare of their members since they were all reorganized by the WRCV in 2008.
The project starts in November 2022 and ends on October 2023.
The project is funded by the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) with the support of Global Affairs Canada under its Women’s Rights, Action, and Advocacy Program (WRAAP) andits grant stream, Upscaling Women’s Institutions of Services and Advocacies for Empowerment (UpWISE).
The project direct beneficiaries are members of the four organizations who will be trained in the project; there are 30 members per organization or a total of 120 members.
Direct beneficiaries are also victims of violence against women (VAW) who are provided with care, support, protection and assistance. Indirect beneficiaries are the members of the four organizations who shall be aware of VAW as an urgent public health concern and support the project.
Project partners
The women’s organizations in the project sites who are the project partners include the Tungkop Women’s Organization, Calajoan Women’s Organization, Tulay Women’s Organization, and the Nagpakabanang Kababayen-an sa Tungkil. The four organizations are registered with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and recognized by their respective barangays. They belong to the Minglanilla Women’s Federation composed of the women’s organizations of the municipality’s 19 barangays. Consultations with the leaders of the women’s organizations regarding this project were held and they expressed their support to implement it.
Prevention of VAW
Community prevention of VAW is the goal of this project. It is not enough that there are focal persons in the barangays to receive cases of VAWC and refer them to proper authorities. The communities through the women’s organizations need to get involved and to coordinate with the barangay officials to prevent VAW. Primary prevention comprises all approaches that attempt to prevent violence before it occurs by changing norms and attitudes related to gender and gender-based violence. Secondary prevention is understood as the immediate response after violence has occurred that should protect from re-victimization. Tertiary prevention refers to the long-term care and support for victims that aims at addressing long-term consequences of violence such as psychological trauma.
Through the project, we shall come up with activities in partnership with the four women’s organizations that aim to achieve the following, namely:
- Prevention of VAWC from occurring through information dissemination activities that aim to transform attitudes, practices and behaviours.
- Capacitate leaders and members of the four women’s organizations to effectively respond to the problem of VAW.
- Provision of a comprehensive package of services to affected women.
All these activities will be done by trained officers and selected members of the four women’s organizations in collaboration with government agencies and non-government organizations involved in these services.
Project activities: Education and training
First, the project shall conduct a seminar and three trainings. A one-day seminar will be held for 30 officers and selected members of each of the four organizations on the following laws, namely:
- Republic Act No. 9262, the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004
b. Republic Act No. 11313, the Safe Spaces Act
c. Republic Act No. 11596, Prohibition of Child Marriage Law.
d. Republic Act No. 11648, which raises the age of consent and amends the Anti-Rape
Law.
e. Republic Act 11862 which amends the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003
Additional 20 participants in each seminar of the four areas will be GAD focal persons of the barangay, VAW desk coordinator of the barangay, members of the women’s desk of the police stations, and members of the Barangay Council for the Protection of Children. These are the duty bearers of the referral system for victims of VAW.
The project shall then conduct a training for the same 140 persons above on a manual produced by the World Health Organization, “Caring for women subjected to violence: A WHO curriculum for training health care providers.” It is designed to provide health care providers with a foundation for responding to domestic/intimate partner violence and sexual violence against violence. Except for a few members who are barangay health workers, most of the members of the women’s organizations members are not health care providers, so that the training curriculum will be modified and adapted for their use by the Education and Training Desk of the WRCV after consultation with an expert.
Part of the training will be on the guidelines and flowchart on reporting and referral of VAW cases. The participants will be trained on how to report VAW cases and referral of the victims to proper agencies for action. The training will use the Cebuano version of the book, Barangay VAW Desk Handbook as one of its references which will be reproduced.
The training will be held in two consecutive days. After the training, the participants shall be able to demonstrate general knowledge on VAW as public health problem, demonstrate behaviors and understand values contributing to safe and supportive services for survivors, and demonstrate knowledge of how to access resources and support for survivors. With the guidance of facilitators, the learners actively participate in knowledge and skills development through case studies, guided discussions, participatory reflection sessions, videos and readings.
The project shall also conduct a training on active listening and communication skills and documentation. It shall provide the same 140 participants with the elements of good listening skills and how to communicate empathically and effectively with survivors of violence. It shall also train the officers and members how to document violence against women in a safe and confidential manner, structured forms for documentation, and responsibility for records.
The last training will be on public speaking and advocacy and lobbying. Public speaking training will provide the members with principles and techniques for speaking with confidence. It outlines the basics of recognizing and understanding the audience. It also teaches the members how to prepare, organize, and flesh up a speech. The training will also train the participants how to conduct information and education among the residents in the communities regarding the factors that make VAW prevalent in their communities and the need for VAW-related interventions to be stepped up in the community level.
Corollary to public speaking is advocacy and lobbying which uses public speaking skills. The training on advocacy shall teach the participants how to speak up or draw the attention of the local government officials about an issue or problem that affects the community, cause a public debate and find solutions to problems. The training on lobbying shall teach the participants the process of trying to influence policy-makers in favor of a specific cause. They In this case, the cause is VAW and the trained members of the women’s organizations shall use these skills to generate support from government officials on measures to address VAW. The women leaders will advocate for the Municipality of Minglanilla to adapt the Safe Spaces Act Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) when it is approved by Congress. An action plan on re-echoing the information will be made during the training.
Advocacy and lobbying
Aside from education and training, the project shall launch advocacy and lobbying on prevention of VAWC. Specifically, it shall post five types of tarpaulins on VAW in the public market and municipal hall of the Municipality of Minglanilla and the four barangay halls. Furthermore, the 140 trained members of the women’s organizations and LGU personnel tasked with VAW-related functions shall reecho the knowledge that they acquired from the seminar and the trainings and with the skills on public speaking, advocacy and lobbying to their fellow members and non-members.
There will also be a forum on the project with health professionals, social workers, psychologists, lawyers, teachers of elementary and high schools, and non-government organizations who can render services to survivors of violence. Another forum of representatives of the 19 women’s organizations will be held to discuss about VAWC as a problem in Minglanilla.
Towards the end of the project, the project shall publish a newsletter on the gains and lessons of the project.
Direct services for VAW victims
Aside from education and training, advocacy and lobbying, the project shall provide direct services for survivors of violence.
There will be meetings of the project staff with the barangay captains and VAW Desk focal persons of the four areas in order to establish a referral system from the women’s organization to them for survivors of VAW.
There will also be meetings of the project staff with professionals, government agencies and other non-government agencies to whom the survivors of VAW will be referred to them for care, support, protection and empowerment.
The trained members of the women’s organizations shall monitor and document cases of VAW in their communities by listening to the survivors themselves. They shall accompany the survivors to the VAWC desk in their barangay for reporting and further accompany them to the WCPD in the police station, the DSWD, doctors, social workers or psychologists if the situation warrants them to avail of their services. They will also ensure that the survivors avail of the services needed. With VAW being a serious common problem that continues to affect the women sector, the Women’s Resource Center of Visayas, Inc. (WRCV) continues to take up the cudgels for its prevention, particularly in communities where it has partner women’s organizations that can collaborate with it in this task.