Chapter I Introduction The pandemic in 2020 has not brought down statistics across the world as figures of filed complaints have taken an unprecedented hike that correspondingly increased the violence especially at the domestic front. The Philippines is not exempt, as President Rodrigo Duterte, in his report to Congress revealed that per Philippine National Police (PNP) report, there have been over 1,945 incidents of violence against women across the country since lockdown as of June 4, 2020 (Ramos, 2020). Earlier, the Center for Women’s Resources reported through its Ulat Lila 2020, the bi-annual report on the situation of Filipino women presented at the University of the Philippines in Diliman its analysis based on data from the Philippine National Police-Women and Children Protection Center (PNP-WCPC). Said report revealed that there have been 6,315 VAW reported cases across the Philippines from April to June 2019. Findings of the CWR state that “Violence against women continues to be among the issues that haunt women and children” and the “intensifying socioeconomic and political crisis, coupled with a regressive feudal patriarcal mindset of leaders in the country, increased the vulnerability of women to gender-based abuses” (Villanueva, 2020). CWR’s observations likewise include, that “authorities refrain from releasing VAW-related data, including rape cases, after the controversy about state-perpetrated violence in 2018” and that, “at least 63 police officers have been involved in cases of violence against women, including rape, from July 2016 until December 2019” (Villanueva, 2020). Government however has been relentless in the anti-violence against women campaign through various agencies, covering primarily tasked agencies such as the Philippine Women’s Commission (PCW) as well as government agencies and local government units enjoined as partners in advocacy. Thus, the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) calls: “Violence against women (VAW) is a grave violation of Women’s rights and fundamental freedoms. It manifests deep-seated discrimination and gender inequality and continues to be one of the country’s perennial social provlems. Therefore, various measures and mechanisms have been employed and implemented to address it” (ASTI, 2020).

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