Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment in the workplace is generally defined in Republic Act 7877 as any sexual favor
made as a condition for hiring or employment that would impair the employee’s rights or privileges
under existing labor laws, or would result in an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment for
the employee. The range of acts that can be identified as sexual harassment are from verbal forms
and gestures to sexual assault.
There were 196 cases of sexual harassment reported to the Philippine National Police in 2013, a 478
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percent increase from the 41 cases in 2012. This figure covers sexual harassment cases in both
work and educational settings. Moreover, the Civil Service Commission received 159 cases from
1994 to 2014; 69 percent (110 cases) of these were already been resolved (66% were decided in favor
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of the complainant resulting to the dismissal or suspension of the respondent).
Under the R.A. 7877 all workplaces should have mechanisms in place to address or resolve cases of
sexual harassment. However compliance to this has been generally low. On the other hand,
reporting of sexual harassment incidents has also been low. The increasing job insecurity by way of
contractualization, mass layoffs, particularly in industries where women are predominant (e.g.
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garments, manufacturing, retail) deters women from filing complaints.
There is an advocacy to expand the definition of sexual harassment to cover acts of such in publc
spaces due to its prevalence and potential serious effects on the victims. At present, these acts are
largely categorized as “unjust vexation” under the Revised Penal Code. The UN Women and Social
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Weather Station (SWS) survey on sexual harassment in 2015 showed the following data:
● 3 out of 5 women have experienced sexual harassment in their lifetime
● 88 percent are women aged 18-24 years old
● 70 percent experienced sexual harassment from total strangers.
● Forms of sexual harassment include wolf whistling, lascivious language, stalking, voyeurism,
groping, rubbing or touching, catcalling, indecent gestures, exhibitionism and public
masturbation, sending of pornographic pictures or videos, and cyberviolence.
● 50 percent of the women did nothing about the sexual harassment incident; 20 percent said
they were overcome with fear
In October 2014, the Thomson Reuters Foundation-commissioned survey of 16 cities ranked the
Manila transportation as the 10th most dangerous for women. In the same survey, the country placed
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Statistics on Violence Against Filipino Women. Philippine Commission on Women. Retrieved from
http://www.pcw.gov.ph/statistics/201405/statistics-violence-against-filipino-women
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The Daily Guardian (2014, 05 December). “CSC seeks protection of gov’t workers vs sexual harassment.” Retrieved
from https://thedailyguardian.net/community-news/csc-seeks-protection-of-govt-workers-vs-sexual-harassment/.
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International Trade Union Conference (2012). Internationally Recognized Core Labour Standards in Philippines
(Report for the WTO General Council Review of the Trade Policies of the Philippines). Retrieved from
http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/new_final_philippines_tpr_2012.pdf
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Cabral, A. (2016, 28 March). “The Invisible Ways We Experience Sexual Harassment”. CNN Philippines. Retrieved
from http://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/2017/03/28/sexual-harassment-policies.html
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RH Situationer: Phlippines (November 2017)