Laws, Policies, and Programs for Philippine Women

• Human rights approach to women's development

  It can increase awareness about women, their plight, and their needs
• Human rights-based development initiatives are ratified and accepted by states
• Human rights-based development initiatives may be a valuable tool for enforcing the advancement and defense of women's rights
• Most women advance gender equality using the rights-based approach
• Laws had been passed responding to these demands to protect women's rights
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights

  The norm for all people and nations to ensure that all people, regardless of gender or sex, have access to the same fundamental human rights
• Fundamental human rights are essential human entitlements since a person's existence has inherent value
• Without these entitlements, human growth is almost impossible
• Fundamental human rights


  • Right to life due to nationality
  • Right to education
  • Right to a livelihood
• These rights ratified by a majority of the members of the UN are fundamental to the realization of genuine human existence
• Women have certain rights due to their particularities or specifications
• Philippine Commission on Women (PCW)


  Advocates for gender equality and women's empowerment
• Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)


  The UN's Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, also known as the International Bill of Rights of Women
• CEDAW affirms women's reproductive rights while focusing on culture and tradition as influential forces shaping gender roles and family relationships
• CEDAW seeks to identify where women may experience discrimination and suggests policy strategies to overcome this problem
• Discrimination (as defined by CEDAW)


  Any distinction, exclusion, or restriction based on sex that has the effect or purpose of impeding or negating the recognition, enjoyment, or exercise by women, regardless of their marital status, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, civil, or any other fields, based on the equality of men and women
• Any state or country that ratifies the CEDAW must pledge to eliminate gender discrimination
• The Philippine government's commitment to the CEDAW is established via the Magna Carta of Women (MCW)
• Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA)


  Underlines that women have similar issues that can only be resolved by working together and in partnership with men to achieve global gender equality
• The BPfA aims for women's full participation in all spheres of life through the shared responsibility of men and women at home, in the workplace, and the public sector
• The BPfA recognizes the subordinate position of women around the globe and aims to promote and protect their full rights while diagnosing problems related to women's issues
• Concerns of the BPfA

  • Girl-child
  • Indigenous women
  • Women workers
  • Women who were victims of violence in armed conflicts
• The BPfA focuses on the social dimension of growth, recognizing that structural adjustment plans had left behind women and led to a feminization of poverty, in which most of the world's poor are women
• 12 significant areas of concern identified by the BPfA

  • The rising burden of poverty on women
  • Inequalities and inadequacies in unequal access to health care and related services
  • Inequalities and inadequacies in access to education and training
  • Violence against women
  • The effect of armed or other kinds of conflict on women, including those living under foreign occupation
  • Inequalities in economic structures and policies, in all forms of productive activities, and access to resources
  • Inequalities between men and women in the sharing of power and decision-making at all levels
  • Limited mechanisms at all levels to promote the advancement of women
  • Lack of respect for and inadequate promotion and protection of the human rights of women
  • Stereotyping of women and inequality in women's access to and participation in all communication systems, especially in the media
  • Gender inequalities in the management of natural resources and the protection of the environment
  • Persistent discrimination against and violence against the rights of the girl-child
• Gender mainstreaming was formed for gender equality due to the Fourth UN World Conference on Women
• Gender mainstreaming is the most important mechanism to fulfill the commitment to the BPfA in 1995
• Signers of the BPfA must adopt national policies and programs incorporating gender mainstreaming
• Gender issues and gender mainstreaming are the adopted mechanisms of the Philippine government to address gender needs
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  Address the root causes of poverty and inequality today, built from the MDGs and desire to continue the latter's goals and complete the targets by 2030
• SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls


  • End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
  • Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation
  • Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage, and female genital mutilation
  • Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through public services, infrastructure, and social protection policies and promote nationally appropriate shared responsibility within the household and the family
  • Ensure women's full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life
  • Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed following the International Conference on Population and Development Program of Action, the Beijing Platform for Action, and the result documents of their review conferences
  • Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources and access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance, and natural resources following national laws
  • Enhance enabling technology, mainly information and communications technology, to promote women's empowerment
  • Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation to advance gender equality and provide all women and girls the power they deserve
• Gender-specific targets of the SDGs include "the end of all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere"
• The existing legislation protecting Philippine women's rights reflects our foremothers' desire to struggle for gender equality
• Women's rights were formalized during the post-Martial Law era when the 1987 Constitution declared women and men equal before the law
• The Philippine Constitution guarantees women's rights
• The Women in Development and Nation Building Act, or Republic Act 7192, is based on the section of the Constitution declaring women and men equal
• National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW), now the Philippine Commission of Women (PCW)


  Created and implemented gender-responsive government policies, initiatives, and projects nationwide
• The PCW serves as an advisory body to the President and Cabinet members on problems of gender and development, and responds to the concerns and issues raised by the CEDAW
• The PCW is the country's monitoring body for gender mainstreaming implementation
• Executive Order No. 348 was created in the Philippine Development Plan for Women (PDPW) 1989-1992, the first development plan to integrate women's interests
• The Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development (PPGD) was later drafted to supplement the PDPW, a 30-year perspective plan from 1995 to 2025 covering individual, family, sociocultural, economic, political, and legal issues