CEDAW/C/PHI/Q/6/Add.1 promotions and to access certain benefits. Also, the Philippine National Police, Commission on Human Rights, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women among others continue to conduct awareness-raising activities to members of the civilian, police, and military personnel and government officials and employees as an important measure to prevent the violation of women’s rights. 6. The Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people indicates that militarization has engendered human rights violations against women and children (E/CN.4/2003/90/Add.3, para. 50). Most of these abuses are cases of rape, sexual harassment, forcing girls to serve as “comfort women” in military camps and compulsory prostitution. Kindly explain the measures taken by the Government to address the issue of violence against indigenous women. There is still a need to reconcile the data gathered and received by government. While the Commission on Human Rights confirm that there are such cases of abuses committed against IP women, they do not have the exact numbers of cases or complaints filed. Meanwhile, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) asserts that they have not received nor have been notified by their regional and field offices of any rape and forced prostitution of indigenous women perpetrated by members of the Armed forces of the Philippines (AFP). According to the NCIP, no such cases were brought to their attention during the consultation of all the 63 Provincial Consultative Bodies and 3 City Consultative Bodies of the Indigenous Peoples Consultative Body from December 2004 to February 2005. At present the Philippine government is in the process of reconciling these data and tracking the status of the said cases. There is an existing legislation in place, the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA, 1997) which aims to promote and protect the rights of IP women, as stated in Chapter V (Social Justice and Human Rights), especially Section 26, which states that “ICC/IP women shall enjoy equal rights and opportunities with men, as regards the social, economic, political and cultural spheres of life.” NCIP advocates for the rights of IP/ICC women as part of its policy advocacy on the human rights of IPs/ICCs. It conducts Information and Education Consultations (IEC) in IP/ICC communities about their rights stated in the IPRA, Universal Declaration on Human Rights, including the CEDAW. In February 2006, a National Workshop on IP Women in Development was conducted in Baguio City, which comprised of NCIP, UP Baguio’s Gender Studies Program, NGOs and IP women from seven IP/ICCs all over the Philippines. The workshop resulted in the creation of a Plan of Action for indigenous women, which would include mechanisms to promote and protect their women’s rights to be free from VAW and other forms of abuse and exploitation. Writeshops and other activities to draft the said plan are ongoing. 7. The report states that the Anti-Violence against Women and Their Children Act of 2004 aims to stem the high incidence of violence against women and criminalize perpetrators (para. 207). The Act also provides for issuance of “protection orders” to stop violence and prevent recurrence of future violence. Please provide information on measures taken to disseminate the Act in society, especially among women and other people in the community, and how many “protection orders” have been issued since 2004. Please also provide information on action to train judges, police officers and other law enforcement personnel with regard to the provisions of the Act. 7