ABSTRACT
Background and Objectives: The Philippine government has exerted efforts to address violence committed against women and children as provided for under the Philippine Constitution in conformity with provisions of the international human rights laws. Regardless of those legal safety nets, reports from media show in contrary. This study examined and assessed the prevalence of violence against women and children in Catarman, Northern Samar.
Methods. This is a descriptive-survey study with purposive sampling design. All data were gathered and secured from the Catarman Municipal Police Station and the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office. Fifteen (15) reported cases of violence against women and children were reported.
Results: Based on the findings of the study, there were eight (8) women and seven (7) children. Only one (1) was male, while the fourteen (14) were female. On the types of abuse they suffered, sexual abuse was the most prevalent followed by physical and psychological abuse, then economic abuse. On physical complaints, victims suffered from bruises, cuts, wounds, and lacerations, followed by unexplained injuries and sexual behavior. On behavioral changes exhibited by the victims, nightmares and sleep disturbances were experienced, loss of appetite, anxiety, hyperactivity, aggression, and anger followed by second; and third, truancy, problems in school, and running away from home. The type of neglect the victims experienced were abandonment or had neglected schooling.
Conclusion: The result of the study showed that violence against women and children is prevalent in Catarman, Northern Samar. It is prevalent in terms of sexual abuse; they suffered bruises, cuts, and wounds; they encountered nightmares and sleep disturbances after the incident, and children who were victims were abandoned and quit school.
Keywords: Violence against Women and Children, physical abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse
INTRODUCTION
“There can be no equality or opportunity if women and children be not shielded in their lives from the consequences of great industrial and social processes which they cannot alter, control, or singly cope with.” Woodrow Wilson
The violence against women and children can either be seen on the television or heard in the news today. People can witness that in CNN or the Aljazeera and even in GMA and ABS-CBN News networks. There are some instances when these things happen in the researchers' locality. The lawmakers realizing the magnitude of this problem enacted in the Republic Act 9262 otherwise known as the "Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004. This law manifests the State's recognition of the need of protecting the family and its members, focusing more on women and children. This end, the government has exerted efforts to address violence committed against women and children in keeping with the fundamental freedom guaranteed under the Constitution and provisions international laws of which the Philippines is a party. Regardless of these efforts done by the government, the problem still exists. Statistics from the National Demographic and Health Survey (2013) showed that in 2013, one (1) out of five (5) Filipino women suffered abuse from the age of fifteen (15). Six (6) percent of which suffered sexual abuse and twenty-five (25) percent of these married women suffered either physical, sexual, or economic abuse from their husbands. In 2014, the records from the DSWD showed that 3168 girls suffered abuse, 131 of them are babies below 12 months old, 1167 of whom suffered sexual abuse, 448 of the cases were involved in incest. With these alarming incidents, the researchers are now wondering if this also happens in Catarman, the capital municipality of the Northern Samar. They found out that few reports from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The big question is, did all victims filed a complaint in the DSWD or the police department? What about in far-flung areas where people are very traditional that when a case like this happens, the young girls are forced to marry the perpetrator to avoid family embarrassment? If all of these scenarios are occurring, what appropriate intervention can the researchers do as medical practitioners to help these victims? Hence, the conduct of this study was conducted to gather the baseline data needed for the solution to the problem at hand.
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