Opol, Misamis Oriental Focus Group Discussio on Gender Based Violence Referral Mechanism October 28, 2020 Women Fisherfolks and Women and Girls at Risk of Trafficking During the COVID-19 Pandemic in El Salvador City, Misamis Oriental I. Introduction As part of the sectoral monitoring of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) being the Gender and Development Ombud under the Magna Carta of Women, a series of focus group discussions and Key Informant Interviews were conducted to look into the issues and situation of the women fisherfolks, one of the most vulnerable sectors that the Commission have identified to be focused on. For Region X, particularly in Misamis Oriental, most municipalities are coastal and fishing is one of the major sources of income for families situated along the shorelines and this includes some of the communities in the City of El Salvador. Commission on Human Rights Region X have selected El Salvador as one the pilot areas for this monitoring within its jurisdiction because of the booming fishing industry in the area. The focus group discussions and interviews were conducted in two separate occasions: (1) with the Inter Agency Government Service Providers of El Salvador City and; (2) amongst some of the women fisherfolks of Barangay Molugan, El Salvador City. This report will summarize the collected data from these 2 discussions. In both occasions Atty. Pilipinas Palma, the Gender Focal Person of CHR X discussed that being the Gender Ombud, the Commission is mandated to monitor the Philippine Government’s compliance of the Magna Carta of Women (MCW), ensure that guidelines and mechanisms are established to facilitate access of women to legal remedies under the MCW and other related laws and enhance the protection and promotion of the rights of women especially the marginalized women. CHR will also assist in filing of cases in instances of violation of the RA 9710. The Gender Based Violence Observatory was also established by CHR which was envisioned to become the resource hub and/ or repository of data on GBV where domestic and international standards/ laws as well as researches, reports and situationers on how the laws are being implemented and how all this is manifested in the lives of women, are compiled. Page 4 of 13