The gender inequality in the Philippines

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing                                                                                                                                                       Rome, Italy 30 /o6/2014

The Philippines has made some progress in promoting gender equality in the last decade. The Government’s Framework Plan for Women emphasises women’s economic empowerment, women’s human rights and gender- responsive governance as the keys to gender equality and the empowerment of women. Despite these commitments, obstacles to substantive gender equality remain. Although the Philippines has achieved gender parity in primary, secondary and tertiary education, this has not translated to equality in economic opportunity or political participation.

Women in rural areas are particularly marginalised. The United Nations Committee on Discrimination Against Women has noted the persistence of deep-rooted stereotypes about the roles and responsibilities of women and men as an impediment to women’s equal participation in economic and political life. Women are over-represented in the informal economy which bears negative consequences for their access to basic services such as social security and health care. Further, in recent decades there has been a significant growth in the number of women migrating overseas to work as domestic workers or nurses, where they are vulnerable to becoming victims of exploitation, violence and trafficking.

The Philippines has a disceiminatory Family Code. The 1997 Family Code sets the legal age of marriage at 18 years for both men and women.  However, the Muslim Personal Laws permit marriage of girls under the age of 18 as well as allowing arranged marriages.  The United Nations reports, based on 2003 data that 9% of girls between 15 and 19 years of age were married, divorced or widowed, compared to 2% of boys in the same age range. In 1980, 14% of girls aged between 15 and 19 were married, divorced or widowed which indicates that societal acceptance of early marriage has declined slowly in recent decades.  The mean age of marriage for women is 23.  In 2006, the United Nations Committee on Discrimination Against Women expressed concern about the persistent practice of early marriage amongst Muslim women  With respect to other discriminatory practices against women in marriage, the Mindanao Commission on Women reports that bride abduction, forced marriage and payment of bride price still persist as part of the culturally sanctioned practices in the island of Mindanao. Polygamy is illegal for men under the Penal Code in the form of concubinage  However, the Muslim Personal Laws permit polygamy. Article 27 allows a man to have more than one wife "if he can deal with them with equal companionship and just treatment as enjoined by Islamic law and only in exceptional cases", but a woman may not have more than one husband.

 The 1997 Family Code granted men and women equal parental authority and shared responsibility for raising their children.  The law also permits women to retain parental authority over her children after remarriage.  In 2006, the United Nations Committee on Discrimination Against Women expressed concern about the lack of a law on divorce which makes it impossible for women to obtain a legal divorce,  The Family Code does however provide for legal separation on the grounds of repeated violence, psychological incapacity, homosexuality and lesbianism and drug addiction.  Legal separation provides for separate living arrangements and terminated the marital rights of husband and wife, but the couple remained married in name.

Women also experience discrimination in the Philippines under the laws relating to adultery. The Revised Penal Code defines sexual infidelity differently for men and women. A wife can be made criminally liable for mere adultery, while a husband will need to have committed concubinage. The crime of adultery carries stiffer penalties compared with concubinage

There is no legal discrimination between men and women in the area of inheritance. Inheritance follows both the male and the female line, succession norms adopt either the primogeniture system (whereby land is inherited by the eldest male or female child) or the equal sharing system (whereby all male and female heirs inherit equally). The surviving spouse, male or female, may not inherit, but holds land as a trustee for the children.  However, in 2004 the government reported that there is some evidence that propertied parents leave lands to sons but ensure the future of daughters by investing in their education.

The Philippines has experienced a rise in the number of female-headed households in recent decades. The government’s response to this shift may indicate a change in attitudes towards women’s role in the family. For example, in 2000 the government passed the Solo Parents Welfare Act of 2000 which provides for a comprehensive program of social development and welfare services for sole parents and their children including flexible work arrangements and parental leave of seven working days, livelihood development services, educational and housing benefits, among others.

Violence against women in the Philippines it is reported to be a serious problem.  Non-government organisations report that domestic violence is the most common form of gender-based violence in the Philippines country, followed by rape. A 2008 Demographic Health Survey found that about three in ten women report having experienced spousal violence (physical, sexual or other) at some time in their life. One in seven ever-married women report having experienced physical violence by their husbands, and 8% report that having experienced sexual violence by their husbands. The survey found that 9% of women age 15-49 have ever experienced sexual violence.

Source: WkiGender