CEDAW/C/PHL/CO/7-8/Add.1
29. The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) launched the LGU
Scorecard which gauges the performance of LGUs in attaining the United Nation ’s
Sustainable Development Goals.
Removing barriers in access to justice and ensuring that courts adjudicate cases
involving women’s SRH rights without undue delay
30. The 2017 Revised Guidelines for Continuous Trial of Criminal Cases was issued
to significantly streamline the criminal litigation process.
31. The Supreme Court’s Enhanced Justice on Wheels (EJOW) Program delivers
accessible justice to local communities. Disputants are provided with makeshift court
facilities in EJOW buses and free services of judges, prosecutors, mediators, clerks
and lawyers. The program also includes jail and docket decongestion, court-annexed
mediation, free legal aid to inmates, and information dissemination for barangay
(village) officials.
32. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Supreme Court have introduced the
use of anatomically correct dolls to aid in the prosecution and trial of GBV and sexual
abuse cases against children.
33. The Supreme Court organized, along with designated trial courts, Statutory
Family Courts that will have jurisdiction over cases of domestic violence again st
women. One of this court’s features is the use of live-link equipment if it has been
deemed that the woman-victim would suffer further trauma if she were to testify in
the presence of the offender.
Ensuring that the CEDAW, MCW, and RPRH Law are integrated in the training of
judges, lawyers and prosecutors
34. The State’s regular trainings to enhance gender-responsiveness of court officers
and prosecutors cover subjects such as basic concepts and gender sensitivity, use of
gender-fair language, avoidance of gender discrimination in court decisions, laws
relating to women’s rights, handling cases involving children, multidisciplinary
approaches in handling GBV cases to ensure holistic response, and human rights based approach in the investigation and prosecution of GBV cases. Details are
presented in Annex 4.
35. Surveys of court decisions and issuances were conducted to determine gender
sensitivity and responsiveness of the courts, and the effectiveness of the aforesaid
trainings.
Ensuring that policies/legislation prioritize protection of women’s health rights over
discriminatory religious postulates
36.
See paragraphs 7, 10, and 13 for related discussions.
37. There are efforts to address gender and cultural/religious barriers to family
planning use specific to the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
38. The State, through the DOH-ARMM, continues to engage Muslim religious
leaders in shaping positive behaviours among Muslim males in mainstreaming
moderate views on health and family planning in the context of birth spacing and
protecting women’s health. A team of these leaders composed of local imams and
a’immah has been capacitated and organized as expert resources in community
mobilization sessions.
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