agreomonts with receiving countries, pre-departure orientation prograzurzis, the assignment of social welfare officers in reaeiving countries had been partially effective in protecting overseas workers. She pointed out that wss difficult to gain access to private homes in order to assess the conditions of domestic service. and it 213. The representative welcomed the follow-up comment that more bilatsral cooperation was needed to combat the exploitation of overse8s workers and the illegal export of their earnings from some countries. She reported that some women had formed themselves into groups to increase the awareness of their rights and to improve their conditions of employment. 214. She said that details on job creation progriwnmes specifically intended for women in skilled jobs and on measures to improve the health conditions for women in the electronics industry would be provided in the subsequent report. 215. On article 12, the right to choose the number and spaoing of children was protected by the Constitution and was the right of the couple and not specifically of the woman. The general laws against violence contained -provisions to protect women and family member6 against violence. Laws specifically against domestic violence had been proposed as the awareness of the problem had increased. Responding to a question on data on the incidence of HIV infection and AIDS among men and women, the representative said that government statistics were still limited and inadequate. Public awareness of She reported that there were no plans to the problea was only beginning. revise the law on abortion as there was a strong lobby against it in the Philippines, where the Roman Catholic Church was influential. E’amily planning counselling was available but the services were considered inadequate. 216. Further questions were asked on measures to improve acce66 to family planning services in connection with the high fertility rate and on whether contraceptives could be purchased readily. Responding to a further question as to whether family planning counselling was available only to married women, the representative stated that all methods of contraception were available, theoretically, so women were free to choose, but social pressures often prevented single girls from availing themselves of the services. The representative said that no data were available on illegal abortions and recognfzed that more data were required. Further information wa6 requested on vaccination programmes, the mea6ures being taken to inform women of, and to protect them against, sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS, and on whether women’s organizationz were involved in the preparation of health policies, 217. Regarding provisions under article 13, the representative reported that there was currently a bill in Congress entitled “Women in Development’* that sought to remove the requirement for the husband’s signature in order that his wife could apply for an agricultural loan. The social security system in the Philippines already covered workers in agriculture, domo6tic service and overseas employment and would be extended to cover homeworkers as well. 218. She said that information on article 14 with regard to the enrolment of rural women in primary, secondary and university education, and the level of literacy among rural women, would be provided in the subsequent report. Qenerally, the rural population was more disadvantaged than the urban population, which was reflected in the level of educational attainment of -43-