CEDAW/C/PHL/CO/7-8
(f) The lack of disaggregated data on gender-based violence against women
in the context of displacement, armed conflict, disaster, migration and trafficking
situations, as well as on gender-based violence against women with disabilities.
26.
The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Adopt comprehensive legislation on gender-based violence against
women covering all forms of violence;
(b) Expedite the amendment of the Anti-Rape Law of 1997, putting lack
of consent as the primary element of the definition of rape and raising the
minimum age of sexual consent, currently set too low at 12 years, to at least 16
years;
(c) Strengthen its response to online sexual exploitation and abuse of
children, including through the implementation of the statement of action by
Governments to tackle online child sexual exploitation, issued at the
#WePROTECT Children Online summit held in Abu Dhabi in 2015, and adopt
pending bills expanding the definition of sexual harassment to include peer
sexual harassment and cyberharassment;
(d) Prevent, investigate and punish all forms of gender-based violence,
in particular sexual violence perpetrated by State and non-State actors, apply a
zero-tolerance policy to combat impunity and provide necessary support to
women and girls who are at risk or victims of such violence, including during
times of armed conflict, in line with the Committee’s general recommendation
No. 30 (2013) on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict
situations;
(e) Address the root causes of the vulnerability of women and girls to
violence, including poverty, inequality in family relations, insecurity, and
discriminatory stereotypes;
(f) Systematically collect comprehensive and disaggregated data on
gender-based violence against women in displacement, armed conflict, disaster,
migration and trafficking situations, as well as on gender-based violence
against women with disabilities.
Trafficking and exploitation of prostitution
27. The Committee welcomes the efforts made by the State party to prevent and
combat trafficking in persons, in particular women and girls, including the adoption
of the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012, which provides for more
severe penalties for traffickers and decriminalizes victims of trafficking, the
establishment of the Inter-Agency Council against Trafficking and the launch of the
Philippine Anti-Trafficking in Persons Database. Nevertheless, the Committee notes
with concern that the State party remains a source country for international and
internal trafficking, including for sexual exploitation, forced labour, domestic
servitude and organ transplantation. In this regard, the Committee is concerned:
(a) That the current legislative framework against trafficking in persons does
not explicitly cover contemporary methods, such as online matchmaking, which can
be used as a tool for trafficking in persons;
16-12874
7/16