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1EXPANDING THE ANTI-SEXUAL HARASSMENT LAW

PhilippineCommissiononWomen

Policy Brief No. 10

StrengtheningLawEnforcementandProtectionAgainstSexualOffenses:

EXPANDINGTHEANTISEXUALHARASSMENTLAW

ThisPolicyBriefprovidestherationaleforexpandingthecoverageoftheAntiSexualHarassmentLaw.WHAT IS THE ISSUE?

Sexualharassment(SH)andotherformsofsexual

violenceinpublicspacesisaneverydayoccurrencefor

womenandgirlsaroundtheworldinurbanandrural

areasinbothdevelopedanddevelopingcountries.1

Womenandgirlsaresexuallyharassed,instreets,in

parksandplazas,inschools,inworkplaces,andwhile

usingpublictransportation.2Itisasocialissuethatis

deeplyrootedinpowerrelationsbetweenmenand

women,andunderliestheviewthatwomenarestill

deemedastheweakersex.

Philippineculturehaslongtoleratedandeven

encouragedsexualharassmentbyevenjokingabout

it.3Manywomenwhoareafraidtolosetheirjobsor

failasubjectinschooltendtobequietevenwhen

theyareharassed.

BeforethepassageofRepublicAct(RA)7877,also

knownastheAntiSexualHarassmentActof1995,

Philippinelaws,includingtheLaborCode,weresilent

onsexualharassment.Womensubjectedtounwanted

sexualadvances

in

the

workplace,

though,

had

recoursetolegalreliefbycitingotheroffensessuchas

actsoflasciviousnessandslanderbydeed.4

TheAntiSHActof1995hasbeenconsidereda

landmarklegislationasitfinallygaveanameandlegal

recognitiontosuchunwelcomesexualadvances.The

lawdefinesSexualHarassmentascommittedbyan

employer,employee,manager,supervisor,agentofthe

employer,teacher,instructor,professor,coach,trainor,

oranyotherpersonwho,havingauthority,influenceor

1UNWOMEN(2013).SafePublicSpaceswithandforWomenand

Girls.UNWOMEN.2Lambrick,M.andRaineroL.SafeCities.UNWOMEN.February

20103Feliciano,MyrnaS.(1996).PhilippineLawonSexualHarassment

intheWorkplace.PhilippineLawJournal4Yang,ElizabethandAbao,Carmel.SexualHarassmentinthe

Philippines:DefiningtheIssue

moralascendancyoveranotherinaworkortrainingor

educationenvironment,demands,requestsor

otherwiserequiresanysexualfavorfromtheother,

regardlessofwhetherthedemand,requestor

requirementforsubmissionisacceptedbytheobject.

However,thedefinitionofsexualharassmentin

RA7877islimiting.Itdoesnotspecificallyaddressthe

issueof"hostileenvironment"(resultingfrom)sexual

harassmentbetweenpeersorcoemployees.5Under

the

law,

sexual

harassment

presupposes

the

existence

ofauthority,influenceormoralascendancybetween

theoffenderandtheoffendedparty.Butinmany

instances,boththeoffenderandtheoffendedparty

arepeersorhavethesamerankorstatus,whilein

somecases,theoffendedpartyhappenstobethe

superiorofficer.Thesecircumstancescouldnotbe

consideredassexualharassmentwithinthecontextof

R.A.7877.

WHY IS THE ISSUE IMPORTANT?

Whetherwalkingincitystreets,usingpublictransport,

goingto

school,

or

selling

goods

at

the

market,

women

andgirlsaresubjecttothethreatofsexualharassment

andviolence.Thisrealityofdailylifelimitswomens

freedomtogetaneducation,towork,toparticipatein

politicsortosimplyenjoytheirownneighborhoods.

AccordingtotheCivilServiceCommission,atotalof

150casesofsexualharassmenthavebeenrecorded,

from1994to2012,ofwhich101caseswereresolved,

while20werereferredtotheagenciesinvolved.6Data

onComplianceofHigherEducationalInstitutionswith

RA7877

show

that

in

2011,

42

complaints

from

State

UniversitiesandColleges(SUCs)and49complaints

fromPrivateHigherEducationInstitutions(HEIs)were

5Feliciano,MyrnaS.(1996).PhilippineLawonSexualHarassment

intheWorkplace.PhilippineLawJournal6CivilServiceCommission.StatisticalDataonSexualHarassment

Cases

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PCW Policy Brief

No. 10

August

2013

2 EXPANDING THE ANTI-SEXUAL HARASSMENT LAW

reportedtoCHED.7However,thenumberofcasesin

theprivatesectorisdifficulttoaccountduetolackofa

centralizedreportingsystem.Thesenumbersdonot

completelyrepresentthesituationofsexual

harassmentinthePhilippines,butshowthatitis

happeningin

the

educational

or

training

institutions,

in

theworkplaceandeveninreligiousinstitutions.Many

womendonotreportcasessimplybecauseofthe

stigmathatstillexists,orbecausetheircasesdonot

fallwithinthepurviewofthecurrentAntiSHlaw.

WHAT ARE THE EXISTING LAWS OR POLICYISSUANCES RELATED TO THE ISSUE?

Section13oftheMagnaCartaofWomen(RA9710)

providesforEqualAccessandEliminationof

DiscriminationinEducation,Scholarships,and

Training.Section

16

of

the

laws

implementing

rules

andregulationsmandatesconcernedagenciesto

developprogramsandpoliciestopreventViolence

AgainstWomen(VAW),includinginstitutional

mechanismsforcomplaintsincasesofrape,sexual

harassment,andotherformsofviolenceand

discriminationagainstwomen,andprovideassistance

tostudents,faculty,orpersonnelwhohavebeen

victimsofVAW.

TheCivilServiceCommission(CSC)promulgatedthe

AdministrativeDisciplinary

Rules

on

Sexual

HarassmentCasesthroughResolutionNo.010940

datedMay21,2001.Amongotherthings,thispolicy

enactmentoftheCSC:

1. tookintoaccountnotonlytheAntiSexualHarassmentLawof1995aslegalbasisbut

alsothePhilippineConstitution,the

AdministrativeCodeof1987aswellasthe

ViennaDeclarationandProgrammeof

ActionandtheBeijingDeclarationand

PlatformforAction;

2. laiddowntheproceduralrulesgoverningthehandlinganddispositionofadministrative

casesinvolvingsexualharassment;

3. specifiedthevariouscategoriesofsexualharassment(i.e.light,lessgraveandgrave

7YadaoSison,Carmelita.ComplianceofHigherEducation

InstitutionswiththeAntiSexualHarassmentActof1995.

actsofsexualharassment)andtheir

correspondingpenalties;and

4. directedallgovernmentofficesandagenciestoformulatetheirownadministrativerules

onsexualharassmentcases.Notably,the

CSCRule

removed

the

requirement

of

the

lawthattheoffershouldbeonewith

authority,influenceormoralascendancy

overthevictimhenceitalsocoversSH

amongpeers.

WHAT ARE THE CONSIDERATIONS INADDRESSING THIS ISSUE IN THE COUNTRY?

Promoting womens rights and gender equality

Expandingthedefinitionofsexualharassmentinthe

Philippinesandstrengtheningthemechanismsthat

willensure

that

acts

are

prohibited

and

punished,

will

protectwomenfromallformsofdiscrimination.

Creatingasexualharassmentfreesocietywillprovide

effectiveprotectionforwomentoliveinfreedomand

beempoweredinthesociety.

Responding to International Commitments

Sexualharassmentisaformofgenderbasedviolence,

whichseriouslyinhibitswomen'sabilitytoenjoyrights

andfreedomsonabasisofequalitywithmen.The

PhilippineGovernmentasaMemberStateinthe

Commission

on

the

Status

of

Women

must

make

necessaryactionstoimplementtheagreed

conclusionsduringthe57thSessioninMarch2013.The

Commissionhasexpresseddeepconcernabout

violenceagainstwomenandgirlsinpublicspaces,

includingsexualharassment,especiallywhenitis

beingusedtointimidatewomenandgirlswhoare

exercisinganyoftheirhumanrightsandfundamental

freedoms.ItcalledonStatestoincreasemeasuresto

protectwomenandgirlsfromviolenceand

harassment,includingsexualharassment.

Alignment with National PrioritiesExpandingtheAntiSexualHarassmentLawis

consistentwithitem13onGenderEqualityofthe

governments16PointAgendawhichstates,froma

lackofconcernforgenderdisparitiesandshortfall,to

thepromotionofequalgenderopportunityinall

spheresofpublicpoliciesandprograms.

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3EXPANDING THE ANTI-SEXUAL HARASSMENT LAW

POLICY RECOMMENDATION

ThePhilippineCommissiononWomen(PCW)pushes

fortheenactmentofalawthatwillexpandtheAnti

SexualHarassmentLawwiththefollowingsalient

provisions:

1. Expandingthescopeofactsconstitutingsexualharassmentbyredefining sexual

harassmentas:

a)anact,oraseriesofacts,either

physicallyorverballyorwiththeuseof

electronic,oravailabletechnologyorany

othermeanscommittedinsideoroutside

theplaceofemployment,trainingor

education,whichincludesunwelcome,

offensivebehavior

of

asexual

nature

that

hasorcouldhaveadetrimentaleffecton

theconditionsofanindividuals

employmentoreducationjob

performanceoropportunities;

b)aconductofasexualnatureandother

conductbasedonsexaffectingthe

dignityofaperson,whichisunwelcome,

unreasonable,andoffensiveto the

recipient;and

c)aconductthatcreatesanintimidating,

hostileorhumiliatingworking,education

ortrainingenvironmentfortherecipient

2. Includingpeertopeersexualharassmentwithinthedefinitionofthelaw;and

3. Strengtheningthemonitoringmechanismtoensurethatpublicandprivateoffices

createandoperationalizeaCommitteeon

DecorumandInvestigation(CODI)tasked

tohandlecasesonsexualharassment.

CONCLUSION

Genderbasedviolenceisdeeplyrootedintheunequal

relationsbetween

men

and

women.

The

State

has

the

obligationtoensurethatgenderbasedviolenceis

eliminatedthrougheffectivelegislationsandpolicies

forwomen.TheAntiSexualHarassmentLawhasbeen

inplaceforalmost18yearsnow;itistimetoamend

theprovisionsofthelawtostrengthenlaw

enforcementandprotectionagainstsexualoffenses.

PCWPolicyBriefsaimtostimulateinformeddiscourseandguidepolicyactionsonissuesconcerningthe

empowermentofwomenandpromotionofgenderequality.

OFFICEOFTHEPRESIDENT

PhilippineCommissiononWomen

1145J.P.LaurelStreet,SanMiguel,1005Manila

http://www.pcw.gov.ph|pdad@pcw.gov.ph|+6327358918