The Angeles City Government, thru the Gender and Development Office, will spearhead the 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women (VAW) on November 25 to December 12, 2019.
The GAD campaign seeks to promote awareness on forms of violence, to promote information on laws protecting women and girls, to feature VAW-related services that people can access and avail; and to gather public support for the campaign.
This year’s campaign will continue to underscore the significant role of individuals, especially the youth, in fighting violence against women and girls within various institutions. It will focus on Primary Prevention to reduce incidents of VAW across the city, which can be achieved by empowering individuals to know and claim their rights, and to educate them where to seek help in cases of violence.
In line with the 18-Day Campaign to End VAW Activities, GAD is looking forward to see the Angeleños wearing orange shirt to recognize the said campaign and by placing orange flags on designated areas on famous and prominent tourist sites in the city and barangays on the above-mentioned dates.
The 18-Day Campaign to End VAW will kick off on November 25, 2019 at Marquee Mall, followed by Paralegal Training on VAW for the Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education GAD Focal Person to effectively implement Republic Act 7877 and Republic Act 9710 in all education sectors on November 29, 2019. Training for Gender Sensitivity for 33 Barangay Anti-VAWC Officers and Members will be conducted on December 4, 2019 at America Hotel.
Pursuant to Section 36 of Republic Act 9710 otherwise known as the Magna Carta for Women’s, mandate the creation and strengthening of the Gender and Development (GAD) Focal Point System to emphasize everyone’s commitment and contributions on ending VAW, and presents an ideal picture of a VAW-free community, thus inspiring the general public to make a personal commitment to end violence against women and children.
Violence against women (VAW) and girls is not just a major public health problem but also a grave violation of human rights. It extremely manifests gender inequity, targeting women and girls because of their subordinate status in the society. The United Nations define VAW as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.” Violence and the threats of violence can be experienced by every woman of any age, skin color, gender identity, ethnicity, religion, disabilities, economic, and social status.