4. Aside from physical injury, notable violations were economic abuses by husbands who fail to provide financial support to the family. This mostly happens to single-income households, where complainants are urban poor women. 5. Lawyers and the prosecution department has lamented that a number of complainants choose to withdraw their cases, especially in single-income households where they are economically dependent on the respondent. Most wives fear of compromising the wellbeing of their children when the breadwinner of the family gets incarcerated. Another factor is the Filipino trait of keeping the family’s honor in their community, with family members influencing the women to withdraw the case and not cause shame to the family. Another observed factor is the lack of awareness of GBV victims on their rights and on the more severe forms of abuse including psychological/emotional abuse. 6. In terms of implementing the law, some of the challenges encountered were the lack of knowledge among barangay officials in executing barangay protection orders. The seeming lack of presence of barangay VAW desk was also noted 7. The participants recommended that the PNP may consider assigning additional women police officers to handle GBV-related cases. This was supported by the Provincial Legal Office, also emphasizing that more trainings be given on the proper handling of cases involving women, children and LGBTQI persons. The Integrated Bar of the Philippines also suggested to the PNP to expedite case management for GBV abuses considering that complainants have a tendency to withdraw their cases due to family influence. They also proposed for the establishment of an online messaging tool where GBV cases can be reported in real time. Lastly, the participants proposed for the creation of a localized inter-agency council for VAWC. 8. In terms of legal referral mechanisms, GBV cases which involve physical injury are directly referred to either a doctor first then through the PNP for proper handling of the case. In schools and universities, a CODI body will manage GBV cases. It was noted by most participants that barangay VAW desks are not functional most of the time, which might be due to several factors: a. Lack of continuity of VAW desk officers due to change in leadership b. Lack of training for VAW desk officers on proper management of GBV cases This being said, it can be concluded that a lot of work still needs to be done especially in the barangays where most GBV cases are first reported. There is a need to strengthen the referral mechanisms in the local level to support and protect women’s and child’s rights. In terms of available database, several government agencies and CSOs have disclosed the presence of 14 | Page