CHR can provide legal assistance, investigation, representation, and financial
assistance. Although representation could be provided, CHR has few lawyers and not
all lawyers and investigators are capacitated to handle cases of women with
disabilities.
Incompetence, insensitivity and lack of awareness of law enforcement officers and
public officials resulting in failure to prosecute cases
There had been several cases documented by PWD organizations where the
government failed to prosecute cases of sexual violence against women and girls with
disabilities:
- Police investigation of reported cases of trafficking of deaf women and children
could not proceed because of absence of interpreters. (2016 CEDAW Shadow
Report, PAWID)
- Pornography of deaf female adolescents, or female adolescents with mobility
disabilities (perpetrated by devotees) are not prosecuted or sanctioned despite
provisions in the Anti-Pornography and Anti-Child Abuse laws
It has also been observed that even when Women with Disabilities complainants take
the step to go to the authorities to report cases, they are hindered to file complaints
when the attending personnel dismiss the credibility of the case for intellectually
impaired persons or discourage the visually impaired when they discredit their
identification of their perpetrator whether they be survivor or witness.
Institutions are not prepared to handle cases of sexual violence for women with
disabilities and they fail to provide reasonable accommodation and assistance to
various impairment groups. For example, for deaf women sign language interpreters
are crucial if the case is to prosper. The Philippine Federation of the Deaf, an NGO,
could not pursue 400 cases of sexual abuse against deaf women and girls because of
lack of sign language interpreters that courts could have but do not provide. They have
to rely on SPED teachers who are not trained to handle survivors of sexual abuse,
particularly children. This is more difficult when the deaf woman is not able to
communicate by writing.
There are no protocols in assisting mobility impaired persons in sending and referring
them to different agencies. Courts doubt the ability of visually-impaired women to
identify the perpetrator thus could not prove rape beyond reasonable doubt.
Disability-organizations documented many cases of sexual abuse in evacuation
centers, particularly against deaf and blind women. These cases are not reported
because women fear they will no longer be allowed to stay in the evacuation centers.
Barangay officials are unaware of the laws and rights of persons with disabilities. As a
result, they fail to provide relief according to law.
3. Dearth of reliable and comprehensive data on women and girls with disabilities
[9]