Attachments
Background
Violence against women and girls is a global silent pandemic. During the past two decades the Government of the Philippines has taken national action to legislate against violence against women and girls. Local government plays an important role in delivering on these legal protections, providing gender-responsive services to women and girl victims and survivors. Despite these laws and policies, there remains a high prevalence of violence against women and girls in the country. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has served only to increase the incidence of violence against women and girls.
Political devolution in the Philippines reflects the country’s diverse social and cultural make up, none more so than in the Muslim Mindanao region. After years of civil conflict and peace negotiations, in 2019 the Government of the Philippines recognized the politically devolved Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). During the subsequent political and economic transition period, however, the region continues to feel the effects of ongoing armed conflict, compounded by natural disasters and the national crackdown on COVID-19.
Violence against women and girls is prevalent in the Muslim Mindanao region, although it is not unique to this region nor to the practices of people with religious faith. Indeed, Oxfam recognizes that violence against women and girls is not solely an issue within the region nor within Muslim majority communities. Furthermore, while this region has a largely Muslim population, it is also socioculturally and religiously diverse.
Women in the Muslim Mindanao region are typically reluctant to seek help or tell anyone about experiencing violence. This non-reporting is driven by stigma and a culture of shame. Gender-based violence is seen as an acceptable form of behaviour for a significant minority of women; a third of women in the region, for instance, perceived wife beating to be justifiable in certain circumstances. Underpinning these attitudes and behaviours are high levels of poverty, patriarchal social norms, low education among men, economic dependence among women and a lack of community support for survivors.
Child marriage is a specific form of violence against girls, which has damaging consequences. Girls who become child brides are more likely to drop out of school, suffer health shocks and experience other forms of violence. The sociocultural drivers of child, early and forced marriage are varied and complex, covering the economic exchange value of girls, cultural concerns over control over sexuality, custom and tradition, and the need to ensure security and a better future for daughters in situations of acute poverty.
Child, early and forced marriage is a social norm across all six countries involved in Oxfam’s multi-country Creating Spaces project, including in the Philippines, where in 2017, one in six young women had been married before they were 18. Child, early and forced marriage is also evident in the Muslim Mindanao region, where economic instability, fear of violence, and a felt need to maintain ‘family honour’ has pushed the incidence of child, early and forced marriage to high levels. Moreover, marriage under the age of 18 is permissible under the devolved BARMM government’s Code of Muslim Personal Laws, which is recognized by the national constitution of the Philippines.