The FGD among state actors was done online via ZOOM.
Key Interviews
The expert interviewee for the state’s expert witness on psychoneurology
was identified by the state actors during the FGD as the most frequent
expert tapped by the family court as witness at VAW case hearings in
court.
The VAW Focal Persons of the 5 barangays were interviewed at the start as
well as at the close of the research period.
Identifying the interviewees among the victim-survivors were the Focal
Persons of the GAD/VAW Team of the Barangay Local Government Units.
The interviewees were identified based on records in the Barangay Local
Government Unit’s Gender and Development (GAD) Office, particularly at
the VAW Team’s section.
System Data
Research on existing data were done in offices of the ZCPO and BLGUs.
Existing data at the ZCPO were taken from the CIRAS, or Crime
Information Reporting Analysis System, while data provided by BLGUs
concerned were from the BLGU-GAD/VAW Files as released with
permission, both on the condition of privacy and confidentiality.
The BLGU Filing System follows the template prescribed by the
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in the Barangay
VAW Handbook, or the Guidelines in the Establishment and Management
of a Referral System on Violence Against Women at the Local Government
Level (PCW & IACVAWC, 2017).
Data Collection Processs
Field assistants were involved in data collection as the constraints
involved time restraints and COVID-19 restrictions, including lockdowns in
certain sections of four (4) out of the five (5) barangays with the highest
number of cases.
Participants for key interviews in the communities and surveys were
recruited through communications informing them of the study, and if
they were willing, they were assured that what they have to share were
confidential.
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