Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 12) — Hundreds of women and children have suffered violence amid stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus crisis, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development warned that lockdown rules may be preventing other victims from coming out.
Citing data from the Philippine Commission for Women, DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista said Tuesday that 800 cases of gender-based violence and violence against women and their children were reported from March 15 to April 30.
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The enhanced community quarantine in Luzon and similar lockdowns in other areas were enforced mid-March to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease. Bautista noted a decrease in the number of violence cases that month at 1,044, as compared to 1,224 in February and 1,383 in January.
The Philippine National Police has repeatedly said quarantine measures brought crime rate down, but Bautista said that in the case of violence against women and children, authorities should be more circumspect in making that conclusion.
“Kailangan nating pagnilayan ang maaring rason sa likod ng pagbaba ng datos (We should study what could be the reason behind the decline in the data),” Bautista said in an online briefing.
“Maaring isang malaking dahilan dito ang pagpapatupad ng ECQ protocols kung saan nahihirapan ang mga biktima ng karahasan na lumapit sa mga otoridad upang sila ay maprotektahan,” Bautista added.
[Translation: One huge factor may be the ECQ protocols that make it had for victims of violence to go to authorities for protection.]
He appealed to member agencies of the Inter-Agency Council on Violence Against Women and Their Children, which the DSWD heads, to continue with their programs and services to ensure protection of the victims.
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women described violence against women and girls as a “shadow pandemic” in the global health crisis. Many countries in lockdown have seen rising cases of domestic violence, UN Women said.
Much of the Philippines is under general community quarantine until May 15 to prevent further spread of COVID-19, which so far has infected 11,350 people and killed 751. Metro Manila and several provinces are under stricter quarantine measures, which could be eased next week depending on the number of infections in an area.
