educational institutions.” 63 Lack of access to comprehensive sex education. As highlighted in our pre-session letter, the number of adolescent pregnancies has doubled in the past decade 64 ; this is notwithstanding the Adolescent Health and Youth Program put in place since 2001 to address the health concerns of young people and a memorandum issued by the Commission on Population in 2014 providing guidelines aimed at reducing, among other things, adolescent pregnancies, abortion and gender-based violence through education and dissemination of information on reproductive health rights.65 Since the Committee raised the issue during the pre-session, the state party has yet to issue guidelines for age- and development-appropriate reproductive health education called for under the RPRHA. While the Department of Education (DepEd) has included comprehensive sexual education (CSE) in its K-12 curriculum, it has yet to develop and implement the (CSE) minimum standards to be adopted by schools and alternative learning facilities and provide trainings to teachers to deliver age-specific CSE within the K-12 curriculum.66 6. Please provide information on the number of cases of discrimination against women that have been received and processed by [the CHR as Gender and Development Ombud], as well as on decisions issued by the judiciary in cases of violation of women’s rights. What measures have been taken to ensure reparation, including adequate compensation, for victims in these cases? Please further include information on the legal aid currently available to support women who are victims of discrimination and violence…in gaining access to justice. Please update the Committee on the Ombud’s work to establish guidelines and mechanisms to facilitate access of women to legal remedies and assist in filing of cases (para. 46). Response of state party. In its reply to the LOIs, the state party reported that “victims of violent crimes, including rape, may file claims for compensation before the [DoJ] Board of Claims…and that [p]enalties or fines are determined by the courts in accordance with the law. . . .” 67 Female victims of discrimination and violence may also obtain legal aid through various institutions including the CHR as the Gender Ombud.68 The state party also reported that the CHR has adopted the “Gender Ombud Guidelines providing the process to access its different services, as well as the conduct of trainings for its personnel to operationalize said services” 69 and that a “Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was made and entered into by judicial agencies, strengthening the legal aid services and streamlining the referral of cases investigated under the Gender Ombud mechanism.”70 National inquiry on reproductive health and rights. As mentioned above, the CHR as the Gender Ombud launched a national inquiry on reproductive health and rights in March 2016. This recent initiative by the CHR constitutes a major step by the state party to document, investigate, and address reproductive rights violations. While the results of the inquiry have yet to be published, it is clear that the CHR will not be providing

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