Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — A little decency will go a long way under a bill filed in the House of Representatives.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday filed the Safe Streets and Public Spaces Act of 2017, a bill seeking safe spaces for women and members of the LGBTQ community.
Senate Bill 1326 will penalize gender-based harrasment in public spaces, such as wolf-whistling and catcalling on the streets, in schools, in restaurants, and in public utility vehicles.
It also lists leering, persistent requests for name and contact details, the use of sexist, homophobic, and transphobic slurs, and the persistent telling of sexual jokes as “light violations.”
Third-time offenders of light violations face a ₱3,000 fine or 11-30 days in jail.Â
Medium violations, such as exhibitionism and making lewd gestures at someone, can receive fines of one to six months in jail and ₱5,000.
Penalties for the third offense of severe violations, like stalking, merits a heftier fine of ₱10,000 and one to six months of jail time.
Hontiveros said she filed SB 1326 to complement the Anti Sexual Harrasment Law, which she said is limited to superior-subordinate relationships in the workplace.
“It is deplorable that our women, young and adult, are subjected to this kind of abuse. One may think it is a compliment to catcall, or to leer, but such unwanted comments, gestures and actions forced on a person in a public space is actually sexist and offensive,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
Hontiveros’ explanatory note cites a 2016 SWS survey which shows 88 percent of Filipino females, aged 18-24, have experienced street sexual harrasment.
The bill recommends forming a group of Anti-Sexual Harrasment Enforcers or A-SHE to apprehend offenders.
Enforcers of the Metro Manila Development Authority and local police units will make up A-SHE.
Section 6 of SB1326 explicitly defines consent. “When the victim utters the phrase “no means no” or its translation in the local dialect, the presumption of absence of consent is rendered conclusive,” it states.
The bill also suggests raising student awareness about sexual harrasment. Hontiveros said schools must take a more proactive stance against it.
